


The sun that cleared the storm.

by candycosmo



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Developing Friendships, I don’t even know whats happening in this fic anymore, M/M, Slow Burn, possible angst, possible pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2020-11-07 20:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20823485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candycosmo/pseuds/candycosmo
Summary: Aaarrrgghh didn’t know why, but he ruined his entire status and his relation with the Gumm-Gumms all to save a tiny defenceless Conundrum, and now that Conundrum has to defend Aaarrrgghh from being killed by Trollmarket.





	1. The Prisoner.

“Uhh... hello.” Blinky said while placing a plate of food on the ground.

Aaarrrgghh jolted up from apparently a deep sleep. He looked around and saw the same tiny blue historian he saved delivering him a meal.

Aaarrrgghh didn’t know why he had saved this troll, it was just kind of... instinct. Blinky was about to be slaughtered by a Gumm-Gumm warrior, but Aaarrrgghh had stepped in and saved Blinky, and in the process, had became a traitor to the Gumm-Gumms. Aaarrrgghh had scooped up Blinky and jumped away, but unfortunately, landed right in the lines of the Trollhunter, Deya the Deliverer. Deya immediately knocked Aaarrrgghh out with a single hit after seeing him holding on of her comrades, and to be honest, Aaarrrgghh would have done the same.

”Who are you?” Aaarrrgghh grumbled.

Aaarrrgghh looked around and saw that he was being held in a tiny cave. Apparently the trolls had kept him prisoner, maybe to take information from him. He went to attack the blue tiny troll, but saw that he was being held back by chains.

”Uhm... I am Blinkous Galadrigal. And I am here to deliver you your dinner. You have been out for a while.” Blinky said quite nervously.

Aaarrrgghh gave Blinky a dark look. He could tell that this troll was smart. He could possibly hold valuable information that he could bring back to the Gumm-Gumms in return for them possibly forgiving him. Although Blinky probably wasn’t in too high of power since he was apparently the delivery boy to the Gumm-Gumm general prisoner of his meals.

”Uh... It hope you like it.” Blinky muttered while backing away from Aaarrrgghh slowly. Blinky walked up a couple of steps before running and then out the entrance of the small cave. 

Aaarrrgghh gave the chains around his wrists a little jerk and saw that they could easily be broken. Aaarrrgghh decided to stay until he got information no matter how rusty and thin the chains were. If he went back to the Gumm-Gumms now he would surely be killed without bringing them something. He may be a general, but he could easily be disposed of. Gunmar just say him as another low class warrior after all. Hell, even if Aaarrrgghh came back with Deya herself they would probably still kill Aaarrrgghh.

Aaarrrgghh looked down at his plate and saw that it had a few forks, spoons, scrapes of metal, and a few bones that were probably leftover chicken wing bones from humans. 

Aaarrrgghh couldn’t grab the few pieces of food on the plate with his hands, since they were tied behind his back, so he did all he could do. He bent his head down and started eating it directly from the plate. Aaarrrgghh felt humiliated. At least no one was around to see him act so disgusting.

Aaarrrgghh quickly finished the “meal” in a matter of seconds. He expected the troll that delivered the food was probably the one who gathered the food for him, since the amount of food could easily fill up the tiny Conundrum (was he a Conundrum? He probably is since he does have four arms) but definitely not a Kubera. Aaarrrgghh soon found himself getting tired, which wasn’t surprising since the deliverer did say it was almost night.

Aaarrrgghh soon dozed off a bit, thinking about his escape plan when he does get enough information, but soon fell asleep before he could even think about the second phase.

Aaarrrgghh woke up to the sound of footsteps approaching his cell, and quickly looked up to see the same troll he saved walking down the stairway that led to the dungeons.

Blinky quickly squeezed himself through the new bars that apparently had been added overnight. They were just wide enough to fit the small Conundrum, but way too tight to let through Aaarrrgghh.

“Hello again! I am here to deliver your breakfast! It... is a lot like dinner, but I was in a rush. I was doing a research and overslept from staying up until midnight. My apologies!” Blinky explained while setting the plate down.

Aaarrrgghh stayed silent as he glared at the plate then back at Blinky. It did have the same contents, except this time it also had a banana peel. So Blinky was the one making the meals. And apparently he was a researcher.

“Need more food.” Aaarrrgghh deeply grumbled.

It took a while but Aaarrrgghh could see the complaint click in Blinky’s mind as his eyes soon stretched a bit and he quietly gasped. This troll was doomed. He was way to easy to read.

“O-oh, um, yes I should’ve considered that. My apologies! ...again... u-uh I’ll get some more” Blinky muttered while looking away.

“Don’t need to.” Aaarrrghh quickly said.

Aaarrrgghh blinked a couple of times as he registered what he just said. Aaarrrgghh wanted more, but apparently his words betrayed him as he randomly reassured the tiny researcher.

Blinky looked up a bit at Aaarrrgghh as his mouth hanged open a tiny bit.

“Oh, well, if you say so. Next meal I will make sure to get you more food!” Blinky gently said while scratching the back of his head.

Aaarrrgghh soon realized that this moment could possibly be a good chance to get some information out of this troll.

“What Blinkous researching?” Aaarrrgghh asked while completely ignoring the food.

Blinky seemed to be a bit surprised that Aaarrrgghh found his research project interesting enough to ask him about it.

“I-Uh... I am currently researching about... actually I am not sure I can say.” Blinky said sternly as he seemed to glare at Aaarrrgghh.

Damnit. This troll is smarter then he first appeared.

“Why?” Aaarrrgghh asked in a desperate attempt to get some kind of information.

“I know what you’re doing.” Blinky blankly responded while crossing his top arms.

Aaarrrgghh internally sighed as he realized that this was apparently going to be much tougher then he thought. He had really thought this troll would be that naive enough to slip up and tell Aaarrrgghh secrets.

“Well, you may now eat your food now. And to be honest I think you pulling an act like that means you don’t deserve to get more food then the current amount I already give you.” Blinky scolded while giving a proud look.

Aaarrrgghh groaned a bit at hearing that. So the troll who he saved was going to treat him like a bad child. How ungrateful.

Blinky turned around Aaarrrgghh smiled at how quickly he could kill this troll right now. He had his back turned upon the most dangerous Gumm-Gumm general, one that was being “held back” by the most flimsiest chains of all time.

Blinky had just reached the bars when he stopped. Aaarrrgghh smile soon disappeared as it was replaced with a confused frown.

“Uh... and... thank you. For saving me, that is. I... really appreciate it.” Blinky quietly said with his back still turned.

Aaarrrgghh didn’t give a visible or audible reaction to that as Blinky slipped his way through the metal bars that seemed to be thicker then the chains. He had to stay quite to keep up his image of a scary Gumm-Gumm, and he wasn’t about to ruin that image for a thank you.

Aaarrrgghh could hear the quite taps that were made by Blinky’s flat feet as he quickly ran up the stairs. Aaarrrgghh looked down at the plate and finished it, again, in only a few seconds.

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

“Blinkous, are you sure what you saw?” Deya asked.

“Yes, I am quite certain.” Blinky responded while emerging from the staircase that led to the dungeons.

The dungeons were a small cave system they have found located near the current camp they have settled in for young Trollmarket. The cave system only had about 12 cells and they currently had 6 prisoners, all of which were Gumm-Gumms they were trying to make switch sides. All of them not have making any process.

“Not to sound accusatory, but I just think it’s a little... farfetched... that Aaarrrgghh, the deadliest Gumm-Gumm general, decided to ruin his status by saving... you.” Deya explained while leaning against the huge rock that held the entrance.

“If you came all this way out here to call me a lair then I will say I don’t really appreciate it.” Blinky huffed while starting to walk through trees to the base.

“I’m not calling you a lair,” Deya said while launching herself gently off the rock to follow Blinky, “all I’m saying is that... well you do always seem to interpret things more positive then they are.”

“I know what I saw. Aaarrrggh isn’t a monster.” Blinky grumbled while crunchy leaves made quite a lot of sound under his feet.

“... are you sure? I am pretty sure if I didn’t knock him out he would’ve killed you...” Deya argued.

“And a Gumm-Gumm would’ve killed me if Aaarrrgghh didn’t save me!” Blinky shouted while throwing his arms up into the air.

“Blinky, all I’m saying is to be less trusting of Aaarrrgghh. You were down there a long time today.” Deya warned while putting a hand on Blinky’s shoulder.

Blinky wanted to be mad, but he knew Deya was just being a good friend and looking for what’s best for him. All Blinky did instead was give a little sign while patting Deya’s hand causing her to release him.

“Well, he... did try to get me to reveal information about my study on how to persuade someone to join our side. I didn’t tell him anything though.” Blinky added seeing the worry grow on Deya’s face.

“See? That’s what I mean! Don’t trust him! I honestly don’t see why we kill him right now!” Deya said while starting to walk again.

Blinky bit his lip as he thought about Aaarrrgghh. Perhaps he was a bit too trusting.


	2. The discussions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blinky is trying his best just to become bearable for Aaarrrgghh, while in the meantime, Aaarrrgghh is gathering all the information he can.

“Blinkous!” A voice snapped.

Blinky whipped his head up and blinked a couple of times trying to get himself together from the sudden awakening. 

“It is half past seven! And you haven’t even gathered the Gumm-Gumm’s breakfast yet!” 

Blinky looked around and saw the beige rocky skin of his old friend Vendel towering over him. Apparently Blinky had fallen asleep while studying and he missed his usual schedule of the morning again.

Blinky rubbed his eyes a bit before standing up and gave a slight yawn.

“My apologies Vendel. It seemed I have overslept again... luckily I have already prepared Aaarrrgghh’s food. I have gotten him some more utensils, some egg shells, and cherry pits.” Blinky said groggily.

“That is a lot of food. Are you sure you’ll have enough to supply yourself today?” Vendel sighed.

“Yes, yes, I do not need that much food. Besides, Aaarrrgghh complained that I needed to bring him more food since he’s a Kubera.” Blinky explained while walking to the shelf that stored the plate of food.

“And why did you met his demands? He is lucky you are even giving him food! You need to be more hard on him, I think you are forgetting he is our prisoner!” Vendel scowled.

“Well, I’ll have to go easy on him since we are trying to convey him on our side, much like the other Gumm-Gumm prisoners! And I am not resulting to starving them to convince them! If we do that then we are pretty much at the same levels of the Gumm-Gumms!” Blinky snapped while swiping the plate off its space rather harshly.

Vendel stayed quite for a moment giving Blinky a deep stare. Blinky didn’t even quiver his eyebrows as he wanted to make his point as clear as possible. He wasn’t about to treat the troll that saved his life like trash.

“Blinkous,” Vendel started with an eerie calmness to it, “you are making little to no progress to any of the Gumm-Gumms. I for one think that it’s because you are going to soft on them. You are lucky Blinkous, since I convinced Deya not to execute every one of them.” 

Blinky stayed silent. He quietly walked away from Vendel and when he passed him Blinky quietly muttered a thank you then continued his walk. The temporary base was mostly just set down tables that were filled with troll’s belongings. Some shelves had been hammered quite messily onto trees and it was quite difficult to navigate through the mess of shelves.

The walk to the cave that held Aaarrrgghh and the other Gumm-Gumms was about forty minutes long, which was long for some trolls but for Blinky it was nothing, since Blinky spent hours just purely reading. The only time Blinky felt annoyed by the walk is when he would almost trip over a branch or root. The thick forest was great for sun protection but terrible for walking in.

Blinky stepped down the stairs carefully to the cells as to not trip and brake the plate. He could hear the echoes of the jangles from the chains that were made by the Gumm-Gumms and Blinky felt a ball of nervousness start to form in his stomach.

“Blinkous late.” Aaarrrgghh grunted as he watched quite enviously as Blinky slipped effortlessly through the bars.

“Uh- Yes. I know, and I know that I said yesterday that I wouldn’t make that mistake again...” Blinky quietly said as he placed the plate down.

Aaarrrgghh watched Blinky with despise and he foolishly settled the plate in front of him. This troll seemed quite boldly with the way that he thought he couldn’t get hurt by Aaarrrgghh right now.

Aaarrrgghh stared down at his breakfast and saw even more food on it then last time. Aaarrrgghh was a bit confused at seeing this, since Blinky had said the day before he would bring him less.

“Blinkous, wait.” Aaarrrgghh called out before Blinky could walk towards the exit.

Blinky halted and turned around at Aaarrrgghh. Aaarrrgghh was even more confused by the almost hopeful expression on Blinky’s face.

“Why give more food?” Aaarrrgghh asked while narrowing his eyes.

Blinky seemed to be a bit surprised at the question, and seemed to be even more confused then Aaarrrgghh was.

“Well, yesterday you wanted more food. So, I got you some.” Blinky explained in a questioning tone.

“But you said yesterday that you give me less.” Aaarrrgghh said while narrowing his eyes even more.

“Aaarrrgghh, I was joking. I obviously was going to give you more, you did save my life after all.” Blinky said while chuckling a bit.

Aaarrrgghh’s chest burned with hatred as he found himself resenting this troll more and more by the second. This troll was treating Aaarrrgghh like a friend, and saw this as a joking matter, even though in reality it was a troll threatening a prisoner with starvation. 

“Speaking of which,” Blinky started which made Aaarrrgghh come back to reality after being stuck in his hateful thoughts, “why... did you save my life?”

Blinky sat down his made Aaarrrgghh groan. He knew that this troll wanted to have a detailed explanation, which he didn’t have, since he too was wondering that.

“I don’t know.” Aaarrrgghh grunted while furrowing his brows. Why was this troll acting like they were know best friends just because Aaarrrgghh saved his life? No, these trolls were still practically strangers. Even more, Blinky was a hated stranger.

“There must be a reason...?” Blinky said with a little more question in his tone.

“Just... body reacted. Didn’t want to, but body did. Would not if could go back.” Aaarrrgghh said blankly with a slight huff.

Blinky was a bit hurt by this, and his hope of conveying this troll seemed to dampened as he realized Aaarrrgghh didn’t want to save his life, and that it was pretty much a mistake. But the hope soon came back as a thought crossed his mind.

“Well, if your body did it without provocation, then it could’ve been your subconscious that wanted you to save someone. Perhaps deep down you don’t want to kill people anymore. Perhaps... you might want to leave your violent ways.” Blinky said gently, trying not to sound like he was telling Aaarrrgghh to do that.

Aaarrrgghh felt absolutely disgusted at the thought of ever leaving the Gumm-Gumms. His nose crinkled as his eyes squinted as he was doing everything he could not to snap right then and attack this troll. 

“NEVER leave Gumm-Gumms!” Aaarrrgghh boomed causing Blinky to flinch.

Blinky seemed to be a bit dazed at Aaarrrgghh’s sudden outburst, causing him to stand up in slight fear.

“Uh- okay, I uh...” Blinky stuttered. 

Blinky soon regained his composition as he realized what just happened.

“Uh... a-are you sure?” Blinky said almost immediately regretting his choice of words as Aaarrrgghh huffed and his eyes seemed to burn in hatred.

“O-okay.” Blinky whimpered as he backed out of the bars and up the steps.

Well that was horrible. Blinky thought as he heavily stomped his way through the forest. He really thought he might’ve been getting on Aaarrrgghh’s good side during these past few days, but apparently the opposite was happening. 

Deya’s words from yesterday suddenly found its way into Blinky’s mind as he soon actually considered them. Well, why not execute them? Blinky knew fully well he wasn’t getting anywhere with them way before Vendel had pointed that out to Blinky. Why not just get it over with? There is no way the general and mind controlled trolls would ever betray Gunmar. 

Blinky scolded himself heavily for thinking that way right after his senses came back to him. Aaarrrgghh saved his life, why would he kill him for it? That was pretty well the same as Deya saving Blinky’s life, then Blinky killing her just because she’s killed other people. 

Even though Aaarrrgghh said his body acted on its own, that means that one part of in must be good. Blinky went back and forth between Aaarrrgghh is good and Aaarrrgghh deserves to die again and again in his mind, scolding himself at some points and praising himself at other points for making good arguments.

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

“Hello again.” Blinky said with his voice shaking a bit.

Aaarrrgghh looked with the same fury in his eyes as he saw Blinky at his cell again with his dinner. Aaarrrgghh’s stomach had started growling ever since lunch, but sadly didn’t get any food, making his stomach feel like it was eating itself by now. 

All Aaarrrgghh did was give a deep angry huff. He still despised this naive troll. He wondered if this troll was a whelp, it wouldn’t be that surprising. He was tiny, naive, pretty stupid, and talkative. Everything Aaarrrgghh wasn’t. They were pretty much polar opposites, and Aaarrrgghh wondered why the trolls picked Blinky out of all people to deliver him food and maybe become friends with him.

“Uh... I know you still hate me from... this morning-” Blinky started.

“Always hated you.” Aaarrrgghh snapped.

Blinky flinched a bit before continuing on, “Uhm... o-okay... I understand. Uh... but I would still like to befriend you, at least a little. I feel like it lighten up this dull cell a bit if you maybe had a friend that visited you!” 

Aaarrrgghh almost boomed our laughing, but caught himself (very difficulty) and stopped himself. Was this troll serious? Did he really think Aaarrrgghh’s life of prison and containment and starvation would suddenly become bearable just because he had a friend?

“How old are you?” Aaarrrgghh asked smirking.

Blinky seemed to be a bit offended by this question, as he raised his hand near his chest and gasped dramatically.

“I’ll have you know I am 257 years old!” Blinky snapped.

Out of all the ages, Aaarrrgghh hadn’t expected Blinky to be only two years younger then him. He had fully expected Blinky to be at least in his nineties and at most in his late one hundreds. This also gave Aaarrrgghh some useful information. This troll was definitely old enough to have hold some major secrets, and he did seem to be close to Deya. All of a sudden Aaarrrgghh had an idea.

“Will... consider friendship if convince Deya to get rid of chains.” Aaarrrgghh proposed trying to sound as innocent as possible.

Aaarrrgghh was in utter shock as Blinky stayed silent for a moment, clearly actually considering this! Was this troll that dumb? He might use big words and was a researcher, but was clearly still extremely naive.

“No. I am quite certain that it would actually be counterproductive to you being able to be free of those chains if you asked for them to be removed so early on.” Blinky said wearily.

Aaarrrgghh was speechless. Did Blinky want Aaarrrgghh to be removed of his chains? Was Blinky on his side?

“You... want me free?” Aaarrrgghh asked with his eyes stretched open, completely forgetting he hadn’t gotten his dinner yet causing his stomach to groan compliantly.

“Well of course!” Blinky retorted while hearing Aaarrrgghh’s stomach and realizing that he still had his dinner in his hands, he placed the plate on the ground and slid it into the cell. “Why else do you think I’ve been researching? I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to persuade someo-”

Blinky clasped his hands over his mouth as he realized that he had just revealed private information. Aaarrrgghh sneered but forced it away as Blinky whipped his head back to Aaarrrgghh.

“Uh- forget what I just said!” Blinky cried muffled as he still had his hands over his mouth.

Aaarrrgghh tilted his head slightly trying to look like he hadn’t noticed anything and tilted his ears downwards to make it seem like he confused, then they couldn’t help but slightly tilt upwards again as he saw the clearly relieved look on Blinky’s face.

“Uh... never mind.” Blinky sighed as he quickly went up the stairs again.

So Blinky was trying to persuade Aaarrrgghh to join his side, and was trying to persuade Deya to let him free? If Aaarrrgghh played along, then this could go very well for him.


	3. Realizations.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blinky finally realizes what Aaarrrgghh’s up to.

“Wake up! I have your breakfast!” Blinky called out.

Aaarrrgghh cracked one eye open without a jolt up this time, for he was now use to the usual waking up to yelling, wether that be from Blinky calling out to him or his neighbouring Gumm-Gumm prisoners protesting their captivity. Aaarrrgghh knew fully well that those Gumm-Gumms weren’t the usual warriors that came to Gunmar by choice, but rather trolls that were controlled by the Bular’s Decimarr blade.

Bular was only in his hundreds, so Gunmar obviously didn’t trust him the real Decimarr blade. However, he still wanted his son to be made clear that he is Gunmar the black’s son, so he needed to be armed with something more then a fatal weapon, so, the Decimarr blade the second (Bular picked the name) was born. It was a sword much like the Decimarr blade, except the attacker couldn’t control the troll’s actions afterwards nor talk through them, but if you were attacked by the blade, you would become a faithful Gumm-Gumm, and we’re corrupted from the inside out, against your will.

It soon clicked in Aaarrrgghh’s mind that the reason they chose these Gumm-Gumms to try and convey them is because maybe they believed the old them is still in there. If they actually believed that then they were even more stupid then Aaarrrgghh thought.

Aaarrrgghh soon came back from his deep thoughts as Blinky tapped a single finger against one of the rusty metal bars that they probably stole from a human village.

Aaarrrgghh gave a slight huff of annoyance as he was a bit agitated that he was woken up just for breakfast, he didn’t know why Blinky didn’t just slide the plate into the cell and left him to rest.

Aaarrrgghh arched his back as he straightened his arms from their original curled position and he raised himself up a bit as he turned his head higher. His brow furrowed from his huge yawn that he just made then he relaxed his tensed muscles. Aaarrrgghh made a slight uncomfortable hum as he realized Blinky had been watching him stretch with pure awe on his face.

“Oh! I forgot!” Blinky yelped which made Aaarrrgghh’s shoulders tense a bit. “I have talked with Deya, and I have convinced her to come down her and talk with you directly! She will interrogate you and see if you are able to be set free and see if you really have converted to us, and not the Gumm-Gumms, and if you show promising signs you’ll be able to be set free! Under heavy watch though, of course.” Blinky explained.

Aaarrrgghh was in a state of shock for a mere moment as he thought at how Blinky, for no reason at all, thought Aaarrrgghh wanted to leave he Gumm-Gumms even though Aaarrrgghh thought he had made it pretty clear that he didn’t want to, considering that Aaarrrgghh roared at Blinky.

“Why you think I don’t want be Gumm-Gumm?” Aaarrrgghh asked with a bit more anger in his voice then he meant to.

Blinky was speechless while trying to find a reason. He had completely forgotten that Aaarrrgghh didn’t want to change sides since he was so preoccupied with trying to convince Deya to give Aaarrrgghh a chance. Blinky soon felt his cheeks warm as he realized how stupid he was. How could he have forgotten? Where had Blinky gotten that idea? 

“Uh... well it has been a week... and I thought it we were... making some progress.” Blinky muttered while looking away from Aaarrrgghh.

Aaarrrgghh could hear Blinky mumble something along the lines of “perhaps I came to bluntly... maybe... should’ve done something different... is it because... no...” as he tapped a single finger on his chin.

Blinky was right, it had been a week, and during that time Aaarrrgghh had made a plan. First, he needed to get on Blinky’s good side, which he had already done, effortlessly, which means he had to put up with Blinky’s annoying and talkative personality. Then, Aaarrrgghh needed to somehow get the chains of his wrists. He could already do this, but he knew if he broke them and didn’t let someone else get rid of them Deya would immediately run out to where Blinky and him were and kill Aaarrrgghh on the spot when she found out. He needed to get his wrists free so he could bend his bars away then find where the base was, and look through the base to hopefully get some information. He would obviously go back before anyone woke up and bend the bars back. After that, Aaarrrgghh would try to convince the trolls he was trustworthy with information, then learn everything he can. Finally, he would take the amulet from Deya then flee back to the Gumm-Gumms and hopefully be spared for bringing them it.

Aaarrrgghh’s eyes lit up as he realized this interrogation could possibly lead into the succession of phase two, getting the chains off. If he successfully made a good impression on Deya, perhaps he could make them get rid of the chains.

“Want to though.” Aaarrrgghh bluntly said which made Blinky cease his mumbling fit.

Blinky stayed silent for a bit which made Aaarrrgghh a bit nervous. Had he been to direct and therefore made himself suspicious?

Blinky looked back at Aaarrrgghh as mild surprise made its way plain across his face. Then, a short sudden laugh made Aaarrrgghh lean back a bit and Blinky smiled hugely.

Aaarrrgghh was still envious at how positive this troll was. They were practically the same age, yet Aaarrrgghh was thousands more times more mature then Blinky, and way WAY less naive. Aaarrrgghh knew that he and Blinky had been raised drastically different, but Aaarrrgghh felt a bit happy he was raised the way he was since he apparently dodged being raised and becoming a huge idiot.

“Well, if you keep that attitude up, then you’ll surely make a good impression on Deya!” Blinky sighed in relief.

Blinky smiled again at Aaarrrgghh which made Aaarrrgghh feel... something... something he hadn’t before, but he didn’t like the way he felt. It was weird. Then Blinky ran his way up the staircase leaving Aaarrrgghh there a bit confused.

Aaarrrgghh took a few minutes to realize that his breakfast existed. He stared down at it. He suddenly didn’t feel hungry. 

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

Blinky gave a slight annoyed huff as he realized that it would take weeks for Deya to visit Aaarrrgghh. Blinky sat down on a small chair and looked up at the bright orange sheet that was hanged over his living quarters. Blinky was one of the only few trolls that actually had roofs above their place, but only because he was one of the few trolls that set their place up in direct sunlight.

Blinky sat their just thinking for while. He wondered why he was so driven to make Aaarrrgghh one of them. He found himself wincing at the thought of Aaarrrgghh’s home life, and thinking about how abusive and tough it must be. He was worried about Aaarrrgghh’s, the highest ranking Gumm-Gumm general, well-being.

Deya was right, Blinky is too attached to Aaarrrgghh, and that made Blinky come to the cold realization that Aaarrrgghh really didn’t like him.

Oh wow, I lot of things are starting to make sense to Blinky now. Blinky finally pushed aside his bias of Aaarrrgghh secretly being a good person, and now he was looking at things critically.

Blinky rethought everything that happened in the last week, it had all happened so fast that he never really took a second to actually think about Aaarrrgghh’s actions. 

He almost visibly jumped at the grim realization that Aaarrrgghh had been using Blinky. His stomach seemed to curl in on itself as he thought about how Aaarrrgghh wanted to talk about his studies. He had thought Aaarrrgghh was just interested in Blinky’s life, but in reality he just wanted to get information from him.

Why had it took so long for Blinky to realize this? Why had Blinky acted so stupid? Blinky smacked his face as he cringed a bit at how stupid he was. Blinky then realized that when Aaarrrgghh definitely didn’t want to leave the Gumm-Gumms, and soon enough he started to panic as he argued with himself.

I mean, it was clear Aaarrrgghh had alternative motives for when Deya came to see if Aaarrrgghh had conveyed yet, but would it be too suspicious if Blinky suddenly tried to make Deya not go? Why shouldn’t he just tell Deya to kill Aaarrrgghh right now? Blinky now knew that Aaarrrgghh was a terrible person, so why didn’t he want Aaarrrgghh to be executed? If Aaarrrgghh did, then they had just vanquished the deadliest Gumm-Gumm yet besides from Gunmar and Bular. 

Blinky groaned in frustration as he was incredibly confused with himself why he wanted to keep Aaarrrgghh safe. By Merlin’s name, Aaarrrgghh clearly wanted Blinky dead! He had said it himself! Blinky was soon pacing back and forth holding his head. For most of his life Blinky always knew about himself and his view and opinion on things, but now, for the first time in his life, Blinky was at a complete lost.

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

Aaarrrgghh frowned a bit at the sound of Blinky coming down the steps. He wondered how long it took them to make those steps since there was so many. Aaarrrgghh was leaning his back on a wall and was sitting on the floor facing away from the entrance to the cell. Most of his day was him bored just sitting and thinking, sitting and thinking, and sitting and thinking until Blinky came about then it was sitting and talking.

Aaarrrgghh turned his head a bit as he heard a plate set gently on the floor then the sound of Blinky slowly glowing up the stairs again. When Aaarrrgghh turned his head completely and saw that Blinky had quickly left before even saying a word.

Aaarrrgghh wondered if anyone had hurt Blinky’s feelings during the time he was gone, or maybe if Aaarrrgghh had said something during the last visit. Well, no, that couldn’t be it since Blinky had been smiling last time. Aaarrrgghh felt a bit weird since he was so used to him and Blinky habit at least a small conversation. He looked down at the dinner and saw that it only had utensils and nothing else, and then Aaarrrgghh knew something was wrong with Blinky.

If Blinky was upset then this could make getting secrets from him a whole lot harder. No matter how much Aaarrrgghh was going to dread it, he was going to have to talk to Blinky and console him.


	4. Confrontations.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blinky confronts Aaarrrgghh about his realizations.

“Blinkous?” 

Blinky snapped out of his jumbled thoughts and looked to the entrance of his tent to find Kanjigar standing there. He was a little bit older then Blinky by just a few years, yet he had upped his status in Trollmarket so much in so little time that he almost had everyone’s respect.

“Oh... uh... yes...” Blinky lied while folding two hands together while using the other two to grip the chair that he was sitting on.

“Are you sure? You were acting all crazy and mumbling a lot. You looked confused.” Kanjigar asked.

Blinky stayed silent for a moment before heaving a sigh and standing up from his chair. He soon started having a battle to himself in his head again but this time about wether to tell Kanjigar his worries or not.

“Kanjigar... can you keep a secret?” Blinky asked while tiredly turning to him. Blinky hadn’t slept in a long time so he was just having an even harder time thinking.

Kanjigar seemed to light up a bit at the chance to help Blinky. Kanjigar always wanted to help everyone, which only made him even more respected. Trolls rarely shown kindness, so the fact that Kanjigar was brave enough to show it made a lot of trolls respect him more than usual trolls in his status, but made some think of him as soft.

“Of course I can!” Kanjigar answered while going to sit on the chair across from Blinky.

“Well... you know our new prisoner the Gumm-Gumm General Aaarrrgghh?” Blinky quietly said to make sure no one but Kanjigar heard him.

Kanjigar looked back at the entrance and then looked back at Blinky. He wondered why Blinky was being so secretive about this, but Kanjigar knew Blinky didn't want to be overheard, so he stood up from the chair and closed the sheet that was revealing the rest of the camp until there wasn’t that big of an entrance now.

“Yeah, why?” He asked while going back to the chair.

“Well.. you know how... I said he saved my life? And how I think he really was showing promising signs?” Blinky asked while wincing a bit. He was already starting to regret telling Kanjigar.

Kanjigar silently nodded with a confused expression growing more and more apparent on his face.

“Uh- Well as it turns out, I was too blinded by that bias and I haven’t really been taking notice of all the... suspicious.. behaviour he happened to be showing during this week. And I have since put that bias aside and I have realized... that he actually was doing the exact opposite. He was actually just acting friendly just to get information from me.” Blinky quickly explained.

Blinky turned around after hearing nothing from Kanjigar, then was even more confused by the fact that Kanjigar looked completely calm.

“Well obviously he was faking it, I thought you knew that?” Kanjigar said while smirking.

Blinky was at a complete loss for words. Kanjigar knew? Wait... Deya also seemed to know that. Blinky whipped a hand on his face as he realized he was the only person to fall for Aaarrrgghh’s act.

“C’mon Blinkous, what is this really about?” Kanjigar asked while leaning in his chair a bit.

Kanjigar was well respected, but he sure as hell wasn't mature. He was still rather young, but so was Blinky, and Blinky was a thousand times more mature then Kanjigar. 

“Ugh, you don’t understand, that WAS what this was about.” Blinky said through gritted teeth. “It seems I was just being extremely naive, so much so I actually began to like him, so I was extremely hurt when I came to that realization.” 

“Heh, you like him, huh?” Kanjigar asked while resting his chin in the palm of his hand, his arm now leaning on the table he was close to.

“Not that like, of course, but I guess I thought he was secretly a good person due to him saving me.” Blinky sighed. 

“Listen Blinky, you may be like super super smart, but when it comes to emotions... you’re a complete mess.” Kanjigar said bluntly.

“Oh and what is that supposed to mean?” Blinky hastily said. He was already having insecurities, and being called a complete mess only added to that.

“Well, listen, you make things harder for yourself by become too attached to people too quickly. Remember, Aaarrrgghh is jut a prisoner you’re trying to convey. Nothing more and nothing less, and lately I’ve noticed you’ve been using emotion to convince him rather then logic, and that’s not how you usually do it.” Kanjigar explained.

“How do you know how I talk to-”

“Deya told me. She sometimes walks out to listen to you and Aaarrrgghh’s conversations,” Kanjigar ignored Blinky’s angered gasp “Anyway, use logic to make your point, you are more efficient that way since you know how to argue that way more. Don’t think of Aaarrrgghh as a friend, but what he is. He is still the Gumm-Gumm General.” Kanjigar said making sure every word was clear to Blinky.

Blinky gave a slight hum. He didn’t think this job would be that hard, yet right now he was being proven wrong. 

“Hey, don’t worry too much about it. I’ll call of the meeting with Deya and him so you don’t make yourself look like a complete idiot.” Kanjigar said while giving Blinky a smile. Blinky realized that he was visibly anxious.

“Uh... just... maybe wait a day or two before you do that?” Blinky requested. This might be the only time Deya will give Aaarrrgghh a chance, and he didn’t want to ruin that.

Kanjigar gave Blinky a concerned look, and Blinky knew that Kanjigar thought he was still attached to Aaarrrgghh, but nonetheless gave a sigh and nodded, then walked himself out of the tent.

Blinky stayed standing there for a moment before flopping himself onto a chair that was near the bookshelf he was close to. 

He let out a tired sigh. He was having so many thoughts that he started to feel overwhelmed, then he suddenly felt drowsy. Was he about to fall asleep in the middle of the day again? Was he really that tired? It would be best to get a tiny nap to rest his mind if he was, then that way he could think more rationally.

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

“What’s wrong?” Aaarrrgghh asked before Blinky could walk up the stairs again.

Blinky had once again messily tossed the plate into the cell and had almost broken it. He was still getting over the initial anger of feeling betrayal, even if it should’ve been obvious.

“Nothing.” Blinky snapped which made Aaarrrgghh jump a bit.

Aaarrrgghh had at least expected Blinky to maybe hint at what was upsetting him, but just a quick dismissive “nothing” showed more that he was upset then Blinky going on to a twenty minute long rant that something was. 

Aaarrrgghh internally groaned as he realized Blinky was even more angry then he thought, making him feel better going to be much harder.

“Know something is wrong. What is it?” Aaarrrgghh asked in a fake gentle tone.

Blinky gave a slight lean towards the stairs, and Aaarrrgghh thought he was going to walk up them, but it seemed Blinky stopped himself.

Blinky turned around halfway that Aaarrrgghh could only see half of his face and Aaarrrgghh was a bit surprised to see that Blinky’s face was more sad then anything.

“I-... it’s just... well...” Blinky took a deep breath and Aaarrrgghh, for some reason beyond his knowledge, started to feel a bit nervous.

“I know what you have been doing during this past week. You have been using me to get information, and I have just recently discovered this and I am quite.. hurt by it to be honest. By Deya’s Grace why am I taking you this? I know you do not care, so I will take my leave.” Blinky quickly and sternly said then started to walk up the stairs.

Damn it. Aaarrrgghh knew Blinky couldn’t have been that dumb, but he was a bit surprised Blinky didn’t find out sooner. Aaarrrgghh knew fully well he blew his chance.

“Blinkous, wait!” Aaarrrgghh called out causing the sound of footsteps to stop.

Wait. Why did Aaarrrgghh call out for Blinky? What did he have to say? He didn’t mean to call out for Blinky, but he knew he needed to say something now. He soon felt his stomach knot in worry and of all things concern for Blinky as he heard a single step taken downwards towards him.

“Blinkous, ...did want to get information from you... but...” Why was Aaarrrgghh so nervous? This should be easy, just appeal to Blinky’s weaknesses and he should be good to go.

Aaarrrgghh took a deep breath before saying smoothly, “Realized... that I want to change sides. Really do. But...” Aaarrrgghh curled in on himself to drive the point home that he was feeling sad “Know that... no one believe me... not matter what I do.” 

Blinky gasped a bit and Aaarrrgghh already knew he had made Blinky feel sorry for him. Blinky was rather caring compared to other trolls, and it was obvious that he was perhaps a bit too caring.

Blinky hadn’t thought that Aaarrrgghh was actually trying his best to make friends with Blinky, then he thought that maybe Aaarrrgghh just seemed to be a bit too nosy.

“Oh.. Uhm.. well, I guess that... if you make a good impression on Deya when she comes then you will make a good impression on Trollmarket!” Blinky said while giving Aaarrrgghh a tiny smile.

Blinky went up the stairs again as Aaarrrgghh was once again left with only his thoughts. Thoughts of Blinky. 

“OH WAIT YOU’RE DOING IT AGAIN!” Blinky shouted in anger causing Aaarrrgghh to jump a bit more then he needed to.


	5. The brother.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain somebody comes and helps Blinky with his stress, but maybe not in the best way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HoW mAnY chAraCtErs Am I gOnNa AdD

Blinky aggressively threw the sheets of his entrance aside and stormed over to his chair, soon lifting his hands to his face to cover his eyes as he let out an annoyed sigh.

A small chuckle came from across the tent and Blinky shot upright from his chair, only to find his brother reading.

“You sure seem angry.” Dictatious laughed while peeking up from his book.

Blinkous gasped a bit and his eyes lit up. Whatever anger he was feeling from Aaarrrgghh was soon replaced with joy.

“Brother! When did you come back? I thought that you were suppose to be traveling for two more weeks!” Blinky exclaimed while getting up from his seat.

“You really underestimate me, Blinkous. Did you really think it would take me four weeks to find out the Gumm-Gumms next attack?” Dictatious proudly said.

Blinky chuckled a bit as rose his posture up higher from happiness, but then soon slouched a bit.

“To be honest... I really didn’t think that it would take you four weeks... I knew that you wouldn’t take long, but when Deya said that it would take more than two more weeks... I worried.” Blinky said while scratching behind his head.

“You’re such a softy!” Dictatious teased while getting up from his chair.

Blinky gave a tiny fake smile before soon heaving a sigh.

“Brother? Is something bothering you?” Dictatious asked while placing the book he was reading on a tabletop.

Blinky looked back up at his brother. How many people was he going to tell?

Blinky gave a slight sigh and Dictatious took a step forward.

“Deya has informed me about your project with the Gumm-Gumm prisoners. Is that was this is about?” Dictatious asked.

Blinky crossed his top arms tightly before saying “Well... has she told you... about the most recent prisoner?”

Dictatious paused for a bit, having a thoughtful expression on his face before shaking his head.

“Well. Uhm.. the newest prisoner is... believe it or not... the highest ranking general Aaarrrgghh.” Blinky explained while fidgeting his thumbs on his bottom hands that were behind his back.

Dictatious gasped and almost immediately started to ask questions.

“Are you serious? How is it that anyone able to capture him? Where are you keeping him? Is it with the other prisoners? How has he been behavi-”

“Brother! Can you perhaps slow down a bit? I’m already overwhelmed as much as it is.” Blinky snapped, growing more and more irritated with each question.

Dictatious jumped back a bit with a surprised look on his face.

“Ugh... my apologies brother, it’s just... he is the most... ehh... complicated out of the rest of the trolls.” Blinky sighed while placing one hand on his forehead.

“Well I would assume so. The rest of the trolls are brainless hypnotized worriers pretty well,-“ Blinky had a grim look on his face at hearing this “-while Aaarrrgghh is an entire being of his own.” Dictatious explained nonchalantly.

Blinky gave a weak smile before trailing his eyes down. Dictatious noticed Blinky’s ears droop a bit and could see plain sadness in his eyes.

“So... this is about Aaarrrgghh and, correct me if I’m wrong, you having trouble with him?” Dictactious asked.

“... that is... one word to describe it.” Blinky answered grabbing his two lower horns with his two upper hands in stress.

Dictactious stayed quite for a moment before realizing just how tired Blinky looked when he let out a yawn.

“Listen, brother, how about tomorrow I deal with Aaarrrgghh while you get some rest? I’ll deliver the meals and such.” Dictactious proposed.

“Wai- really?!” Blinky gasped as a smile grew on his face.

Dictatious laughed a bit before nodding and Blinky’s smile grew even wider. Soon it seemed that Blinky was hit with a realization.

“Wait, you are fine with the forty minute walk? And fine with having to talk to him? You don’t have to talk to the rest, since apparently they’re mindless...” Blinky grunted.

“That’s a drastic change in attitude.” Dictatious said while crossing his arms. “But yes, I am fine with all of that.” 

Blinky gave Dictatious a weak smile before sitting down again. 

“Thanks, brother...” Blinky sighed before soon drifting off to sleep.

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

“Wake up.” Dictatious barked causing Aaarrrgghh to flinch a bit and tense at the sudden noise.

It was very early in the morning. Much more early then Blinky ever came at. Aaarrrgghh was confused until he looked over at the opening to find that it wasn’t Blinky who had awakened him.

Aaarrrgghh jumped back at the rather threatening looking troll in front of him. It was a troll that was like Blinky, just less... friendly looking. He also seemed to be angry.

“Where’s Blinky?” Aaarrrgghh tried to ask nonchalantly but winced at how concerned he sounded.

Dictactious sneered a bit at the question before saying rather dramatically, “I’ll have you know my brother is taking the day off from his stress inducing schedule, stress as in primarily, needing to talk to you. So I am here instead, as of his request”

Aaarrrgghh, for some reason, felt a stab of guilt in his stomach that he made Blinky stressed, but brushed it off as just fear over how angry the troll in front of him was looking.

“Anyway, here is your breakfast.” Dictatious grunted while throwing the plate of “food” on the ground, making the contents fall off.

“Oops.” Dictatious grinned.

Aaarrrgghh gave a huff of annoyance as Dictatious chuckled while stepping up the stairs with his arms folded behind his back confidently.

It took Aaarrrgghh every ounce of his willpower to stop himself from attacking the absolutely revolting troll in front of him.

Aaarrrgghh had a very hard time believing that troll was related to Blinky. Sure, he hated Blinky, but that troll was like the embodiment of every single annoying trait Blinky possessed. The troll looked exactly like Blinky, but he didn’t have Blinky’s kindness, compassion, thoughtfulness, hopefulness, optimism-

Wait, when did he ever think Blinky were any of these?

Aaarrrgghh almost physically jumped at the realization he thought this highly Blinky. Aaarrrgghh soon calmed down after he soon dismissed it as he only thought Blinky was anything like those words because he just woke up, so he was still drowsy and wasn’t thinking straight.

Aaarrrgghh looked at the food and noticed it wasn’t nearly as luxurious as Blinky’s food. Well, as luxurious as human garbage gets. There was only chicken bones and some rotten fruit. Aaarrrgghh soon realized he was taking Blinky’s food for granted after he ate the food in about one mouth full as there was such a small amount.

Aaarrrgghh soon felt a bit disappointed that he couldn’t talk to Blinky. His days for the past few weeks were nothing but him just sitting in a dark room for hours on end only to be broken by the sound of the shouts or chains of the Gumm-Gumms around him. Blinky was the only thing that made Aaarrrgghh’s day a bit brighter.

However when Dictatious came, Aaarrrgghh wasn’t only disappointed he couldn’t talk to Blinky, but was mad at how poorly he was treated by Dictatious. If they were brothers, they were almost exact opposites.

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

When Dictatious went back to the tent, he saw Blinky still sleeping on his chair looking rather peaceful. Dictatious smiled before sitting down in another chair across the tent that was pulled up beside a different table, and read a book that he had laid across on it.

But instead of reading, he was too focused on his thoughts. Dictatious has thought Blinky was being crazy with how attached he was to Aaarrrgghh, but it turns out that it seems Aaarrrgghh really likes Blinky too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized how many people have went into Blinky’s tent without notifying him XD


	6. Proposals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blinky proposes an idea which makes Aaarrrgghh realize something major.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry for the delay in this chapter, writers block has been an absolute bitch to me! This chapter I’m not as content with as the others nor is it as long but I tried my best!

“Uhhh... brother, you will need a lot more food to feed Aaarrrgghh the proper for his dinner.” Blinky said a bit concerned.

Dictatious peeked from above his book and stared at Blinkous for a moment before saying, “No, no. I am quite certain that will be enough.”

“Well, perhaps maybe just a bit more wouldn’t hurt-“ 

“Blinkous, you are giving Aaarrrgghh too much luxury. No wonder you have barely made any progress.” Dictatious interrupted.

“Oh well, no progress is a bit of an understatement.” Blinky retorted starting to get a bit heated.

Dictatious continued to argue with his brother, but deep down he agreed with Blinky. He had made progress with the big brute and he could tell since Aaarrrgghh had missed Blinky.

“Blinkous, this is supposed to be your time off from the stress and just relax, not continue to worry about that Gumm-Gumm.”

Blinky tensed a bit from the last part, but thought about the first part a bit too. Blinky sighed and relaxed his shoulders that were raised from the argument.

“Yes... you’re right, brother. Just... make sure you aren’t starving him.” Blinky said gently.

Dictatious gave a quick reassuring smile then went back to reading.

“...well... maybe this one time I can cover your shift! I mean, it is only four days away from when Deya is visiting Aaarrrgghh so I think it would do him good if he talks to someone he’s comfortable with!” Blinky suggested with a glint of excitement.

Dictatious laid his book on his lap and furrowed his brows a bit. If Blinky had known Aaarrrgghh had missed him, his hopes would sky rocket through the roof.

“Brother, this is your time off. Do you know what that means?” Dictactious asked sarcastically. 

Blinky looked a bit sad as he reassured him he knew. Blinky tightly folded his hands and went to look back at his bookshelf.

“... listen brother, I’m not trying to be mean. I’m just... looking out for you.” Dictatious pushed himself up from his seat then trailed over to Blinky and placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. 

“I know I call you a softy for it, but... I worry for you too.” He finished.

Blinky genuinely looked touched by those words and placed a hand on the one that was holding his shoulder. 

“Thank you, Dictatious. I... promise to not worry over such minuscule tasks anymore.” Blinky smiled.

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

The past two days have been nothing but mockery for Aaarrrgghh. 

Dictactious had took Blinky’s advice of talking to Aaarrrgghh more, but in the worst way possible. He would condescend and taunt Aaarrrgghh nonstop, and Aaarrrgghh was starting to be fed up. Twelve times over the past three days Aaarrrgghh had to stop himself from almost snapping the chains off his hands and attacking the vile troll in front of him. He luckily summed up the strength to force himself through the mockery since he was so close to getting the chance to talk to Deya and, hopefully, getting info out of her.

“Hey, Gumm-Gumm,” Aaarrrgghh also didn’t like how Dictatious referred to him as Gumm-Gumm rather then his name “I got your breakfast.”

Aaarrrgghh didn’t even turn his head to look at the food. With the amount of food Dictatious was giving him he would be better off not even eating at all.

Dictatious made a small laugh of terrible amusement before ascending the stairs again. Aaarrrgghh drifted off to sleep since that was about the only thing he could do now and, unbeknown to him, had started missing Blinky more and more.

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

“Greetings, Aaarrrgghh!” 

That familiar voice caused Aaarrrgghh almost to shoot up with joy. Aaarrrgghh gasped and turned his head to face the friendly, nice, and inviting looking troll that had replaced the spot that Aaarrrgghh had his newfound most hated person standing in.

“So I talked to my brother, Dictatious, you probably know him already since he’s been feeding you, well actually you definitely know him I mean I did tell him to introduce himself to you,” Aaarrrgghh would’ve interrupted Blinky by this point but he had missed the sound of anything other than degrading insults that he let him continue. “So uhh... I talked to him and I was able to make him let me bring you your meals! Like before! I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner I was just... taking a break is all! It’s not like I wanted to it’s just Dictatious thought it was for the best.” 

Aaarrrgghh looked down at the plate and was in utter shock as he saw a full on, untouched, pair of chicken legs on the plate, which tasted extremely good to trolls. Blinky set the plate down and Aaarrrgghh ate everything on it (including the plate) in mere seconds. He would have savoured the food more, but he had been starving so much that he couldn’t bare to waste a second tasting.

After Aaarrrgghh finished Blinky have light chuckle that made Aaarrrgghh’s chest feel light, despite all the food he just ate. 

“I knew you’d like that! Apparently anything chicken tastes good to trolls and I was deciding between chicken legs and chicken fingers, which I must say is an odd name for a food considering that chickens don’t really have fingers, but the chicken legs were in a way better condition so I-“

“Why... you being nice? You still mad at me right?” Aaarrrgghh asked in more of a mumble then anything.

Blinky seemed to be genuinely caught off guard by the question as he slipped from leaning against the bars and immediately stood up straight (almost falling in the process). 

“O-oh! Uhhh... I- it- it’s because, well, Dictatious, I’m pretty certain, has been feeding you improper quantities of food... and I thought... maybe something really good to trolls in a good condition rather then just the bones could help with my apology?” Blinky winced a bit at the last part. 

Aaarrrgghh stiffened a bit as he became a bit surprised. Blinky didn’t even seem to acknowledge the last question, also why was Blinky apologizing for something he didn’t do? Or wasn’t even his fault?

“Uhh... tha-... I-...“ Aaarrrgghh had no idea what to say. The only time he was ever apologized to was when other Gumm-Gumm warriors tried to take him on in a battle for his status only quickly to find they were easily being overpowered. 

“Your brother was... mean.” Aaarrrgghh finally decided to say. “Treated me like how Gunmar treats me.” 

Aaarrrgghh immediately regretted bringing up Gunmar as Blinky’s ears perked up and a familiar, curious look filled his eyes, along with some concern.

“H-how does Gunmar treat you? I-if you don’t mind me asking, I completely understand if you don’t feel comfortable sharing that kind of information-“

“Treats me bad.” Aaarrrgghh found himself saying. 

Aaarrrgghh had always thought that Gunmar treated him pretty nicely compared to the other warriors, but after Blinky came and actually fed him proper amounts, talked to him, and was patient enough to actually try to understand him, Aaarrrgghh realized just how much he preferred to be treated by Blinky.

“O-oh... well, I assure you, if Deya finds you willing enough to change sides, I will take care of you. I-if you want of course!” Blinky proposed all while doing is best to avoid eye contact.

“... what you mean take care of?” Aaarrrgghh asked.

Aaarrrgghh didn’t really know what to think of Blinky’s suggestion. Was he to take it as an insult? Why did Blinky think Aaarrrgghh couldn’t be trusted? It’s not like he was planning on betraying him.

Aaarrrgghh tilted back a bit while Blinky was trying to explain what he meant (very badly) at the realization that that was exactly what he was planning to do. Just a few days ago Blinky found out, of course he didn’t trust him! 

“Blinkous,” Aaarrrgghh started, making Blinky immediately stop his explanation. “Why...you... want to take care of me... even after you know what I was planning?” 

Blinky took a step back as he gasped “I have totally forgotten!” 

Aaarrrgghh’s brows furrowed as he realized he could have totally gone back to easily executing his plan if he didn’t remind Blinky. When Aaarrrgghh’s mind went to carrying out the plan, he suddenly didn’t feel motivated to do it anymore. A wave of dread washed over him as he realized... he didn’t want carry out the plan. 

“Aaarrrgghh! Are you listening?” Blinky barked causing Aaarrrgghh to suddenly come back from his thoughts.

Apparently Aaarrrgghh had missed Blinky rambling on, his thoughts only seemed to last a few seconds but apparently it had been quite a while, but by the way Blinky’s face was full of annoyance, Aaarrrgghh was pretty certain that Blinky wasn’t saying the best of things about him during the ramble.

“Blinky.” Aaarrrgghh suddenly stared seriously at Blinky.

Blinky seemed to be a bit surprised by the sudden seriousness in Aaarrrgghh’s eyes, but nether the less Blinky still chose to hear what Aaarrrgghh had to say, but still with the annoyed expression engraved on his face.

Aaarrrgghh wanted to tell Blinky about his mixed feelings, how he wanted to stay with Blinky, how he wanted to stop his Gumm-Gumm ways. But he found his words not being able to leave his mouth as Blinky stood there, clearly awaiting for Aaarrrgghh to say something.

“Nevermind...” Aaarrrgghh mumbled.


	7. The Interrogation.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deya interrogates Aaarrrgghh and makes a decision that Blinky isn't too happy about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's midnight but screw it I'm writing a fanfic chapter and hoping it turns out competent enough to read

“Wake up, Gumm-Gumm.” Deya announced in a voice that gave a just woken Aaarrrgghh chills.

Aaarrrgghh slowly turned around, hoping the sight wasn’t going to be what he had expected it to be, but unfortunately it was.  
Deya was standing infront of Aaarrrgghh’s cell bars and was crossing her arms, clearly trying to be intimidating, not that she needed to try of course since she decided to activate the armour, which was already threatening enough. Aaarrrgghh noticed Blinky shrunken behind her, still looking pretty agitated by last night. If only Aaarrrgghh didn’t choke, he might’ve been able to tell Blinky how he wanted to actually change sides for real.

“Hello.” Aaarrrgghh responded blankly.

Deya paused for a brief moment before exclaiming “Blinkous, here-“ She stepped aside to show Blinky at full, making Blinky shrink even more. “Found you to have had an exponential growth in diverging yourself from your Gumm-Gumm ways.” 

“Well, actually-“ Blinky started, looking angry at Aaarrrgghh, clearly remembering at full what Aaarrrgghh said yesterday. Blinky soon stopped whatever he was going to say after Deya held up a finger to him.

“So, would you consider yourself not a Gumm-Gumm anymore?” Deya asked.

Apparently Deya was getting straight to the questions, not even time to wait. Aaarrrgggh understood why though, Deya had to be pretty busy considering she was the Trollhunter, and if Aaarrrgghh were in her position, he would feel very little patience for a prisoner. 

"Mm... don't want to be Gumm-Gumm, but still am in trolls's eyes until I prove myself." Aaarrrgghh said truthfully.

Aaarrrgghh knew that the trolls, even if Deya allowed Aaarrrgghh to roam the current settlement of TrollMarket, would still be seen as a Gumm-Gumm. If any of them were like Blinky, however, then maybe this might go a lot more smoothly then expected.

Blinky looked at Aaarrrgghh with disgust for the first time. Aaarrrgghh felt a cold pit in his stomach. He knew Blinky thought he was lying, and he had every right to, but it didn't stop Aaarrrgghh from feeling a bit like that look was unjustified.

"And how shall you do that, Gumm-Gumm?" Deya asked raising one eyebrow.

"Helping in fights, helping with... chores... and heavy lifting." Aaarrrgghh mumbled. Deya was asking pretty unsuspected questions, so Aaarrrgghh had to make answers up on the spot.

"Hmm. And how do we know that you're not planning to betray us once you get out of this cell?" Deya asked in a less loud voice.

"Now see about that-" Blinky chimed in, clearly wanting to tell Deya about what Aaarrrgghh was formerly planning, only to stop his attempt once again when Deya raised her finger again. 

"Don't want to. Gumm-Gumm life terrible. Only hurt. Don't want to hurt anymore." Aaarrrgghh said, surprised at how much he was saying.

Blinky's head turned to Aaarrrgghh and he saw that Blinky's face wasn't in disgust anymore, but more blank, maybe a bit pitying.

"Hm. So... what do you think about your guard, Blinkous? I heard that you and him have gotten along quite well together." Deya asked.

Blinky seemed to freeze up and Aaarrrgghh tried his best not to cringe at the cruel irony in that statement. Soon he found himself a bit worried on what to say considering how weird things were between him and Blinky.

"I-uhh... I-I... think Blinkous is... smart." Aaarrrgghh said giving a tiny worried smile at the end. 

Soon that smile diminished as he looked at Deya's cold stare, clearly wanting more.

Aaarrrgghh gave a deep breath before mumbling "I... like Blinkous... Blinkous take good care of me. N-not like I need taking care of. A-and he... nice to me and I... um- I-I like that he nice to me."

Aaarrrgghh couldn't bare to look at Blinky after he said those words, so instead he decided to stare at Deya, no matter how menacing she looked.

There was a long pause of silence. Aaarrrgghh had trouble looking back at her as Deya's cold eyes felt like daggers upon Aaarrrgghh. Deya leaned over the Blinky and mumbled something Aaarrrgghh couldn't quite catch. Aaarrrgghh imagined it was something bad as Blinky let out a loud "WHAT?!" 

"You heard me!" Deya said almost chuckling a bit, raising her hands up to her chest from their original position.

"You've only asked him four questions! How is that enough to come to a conclusion?!" Blinky yelled.

"Well his four answers were good enough!" Deya answered.

"This is a Gumm-Gumm General we are Talking about here! Surely more is in order!" Blinky barked.

As they continued to argue Aaarrrgghh noticed how the roles in Deya and Blinky drastically changed. Whereas first it was Blinky who was excited to get Aaarrrgghh out, and Deya who, presumably, didn't want it, it was now Deya trying to get Aaarrrgghh out, and Blinky disagreeing.

"Listen, Blinkous. You cannot influence my decision here. My mind is made up and Aaarrrgghh shall live with you."

Aaarrrgghh immediately tensed and had to do everything in his power to stop himself from replicating Blinky and also screaming "what". Blinky pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as he sighed "Oh how will Dictatious react to this..?"

"Dictatious doesn't concern of me as of now." Deya huffed. "Never liked that troll anyway, there's something off about him." Deya finished while prying the bars open.

Blinky looked a bit stunned seeing Deya so effortlessly move the bars, but soon realized what Deya just said.

"Now don't you speak ill about my brother! May I remind you that he-" 

"Yes, yes, he wrote a lot of books and gave us useful information." Deya groaned before entering the cell.

Aaarrrgghh remembered the last time someone was in his cell, and that was when Blinky had entered it to idly chat. Aaarrrgghh cringed a bit at the words he said. Blinky seemed like an entirely different person from that day. It had only been a week, but that day felt like a long time ago.

Aaarrrgghh came back to reality after Deya exclaimed "Finished!" 

It took a second for him to realize what Deya had done, but after moving his hands a bit, he found Deya had released him of his chains.

Now was the time he could do it. He could kill Deya and Blinky and return to the Gumm-Gumms. It would take a while for TrollMarket to realize that Aaarrrgghh had done it, they were a whiles away from it, that's the most Aaarrrgghh knew. He was now free, he could now go back to serving Gunmar, back to-

"Well, what are waiting for?" Deya asked.

Aaarrrgghh felt a bit embarrassed that he had been lost in his thoughts two times now in the past 2 minutes. He looked at Deya who seemed to be the least bit scared of him, unlike Blinky, who was now huddled against the wall, as if asking it for protection.

Aaarrrgghh, for the first time in a week, stepped forward and walked a bit, Deya following him and Blinky tensed more as Aaarrrgghh passed him.

He walked up the stairs and into the surrounding forest, which was breathtaking. Aaarrrgghh had only been in forests when it was night and there was fire surrounding every inch of the trees and dirt, the flames blazing as the ground shook with the ongoing fight. Aaarrrgghh never had the time to appreciate scenery, he was always in the heat of battle, and when he wasn't, he was in the Gumm-Gumm camp. A place where there was no life and only withered down rocks as the ground. Now he had time to appreciate what was going on around him, even in the Gumm-Gumm camp he was still trying to be overthrown by all the warriors, so he could never appreciate the camp either. Not that there was much to appreciate.

Here though, he wasn't with the Gumm-Gumms. He could finally take a moment to smell the flowers. The sunlight was being blocked by the thick trees, but the leaves were still pretty bright. The ground was green and full of fresh grass and life as Aaarrrgghh saw insects move around. The trees were gorgeous as the leaves moved around with the wind, making a soft sound as they danced. He heard birds chirping but couldn't find exactly where they were, all he knew is that this moment was probably the most relaxing of his life.

"Pretty nice change from that dark cell, isn't it?" Deya said softly, sharing a similar expression as Aaarrrgghh. 

Aaarrrgghh was a bit surpised to suddenly hear a voice, and Aaarrrgghh turned to Blinky to see him still a good distance away from them. Blinky quickly turned his head away, instead focusing on a rock, seeming to be embarrased to be caught staring at Aaarrrgghh.

"Well! We better get a move on!" Deya said while clapping two hands together.

Deya motioned Blinky to come closer to them, and Blinky, after some hesitation, came walking up next to Deya.

Blinky didn't know quite what to feel. Aaarrrgghh had said he was planning on betraying them, and yesterday he brought it up again. Blinky had thought Aaarrrgghh was going to apologize but Aaarrrgghh's silence made Blinky believe he was still carrying out the plan. But after the answers he gave, how quickly and how much Deya believed him, and how Aaarrrgghh had just looked at the forest, it started to change Blinky's mind.

"So, Aaarrrgghh." Deya said clearly starting to start a conversation.

Blinky looked over and saw Aaarrrgghh trying his best to hold back a frown, clearly not wanting to partake in any sort of interaction. Being this calm was extremely new to Aaarrrgghh, so he was perhaps a bit desperate to keep that peace.

"How do you think you will like TrollMarket?" She asked.

"... If anything like forest, I'll like it." Aaarrrghh answered blankly, trying his best to give the shortest answer so he could go back to the preferred silence.

"I'm also sure you'll like it considering Blinky will be there." Deya nonchalantly said with a smirk

Blinky looked straight ahead and seemed to want nothing to do with both of them after that. He kept up a pretty speedy pace which Deya and Aaarrrgghh could only keep up since six of their strides were twelve for Blinky.

Deya seemed to realize maybe conversation isn't the best thing right now as she jumped over a fallen tree, which Aaarrrgghh soon climbed over.

Deya pressed on with her walk while Aaarrrgghh stopped after he heard a struggle behind him. Aaarrrgghh turned and snickered at the sight of Blinky making a weak attempt at climbing over the tree like they had.

"Well im sorry if this is funny to you. Not everyone takes up as much space you know." Blinky huffed still trying to climb it.

Aaarrrgghh grinned before picking up Blinky and lifting him over the tree, only to gently place him on the ground in front of him. Blinky seemed to be distraught by the sudden actions of Aaarrrgghh and after a few seconds of processing he barked "I did not ask for your help, nor did I require it!" 

Aaarrrgghh stared at Blinky for a bit with one eyebrow raised and a tiny smile on his face. Blinky looked back and gave a quick huff before saying "Thank you anyway, I guess. I suppose you did think you were being helpful."

Aaarrrgghh gave a quick chuckle before walking back to Deya, followed by Blinky. 

Aaarrrgghh looked at the scenery around him. He still couldn't get over it. All of the Gumm-Gumm camps were always so dark and full of an eerie dread, but here it was so full of brightness and cheeriness that it was all Aaarrrgghh could focus on.

"Aaarrrgghh, watch out!" Blinky called out causing Aaarrrgghh to jump.

Apparently Aaarrrgghh had been so engulfed with the beautiful forest he didn't notice that he had almost walked into a small patch of daylight, one of the many that they crossed. 

Aaarrrgghh turned back to Blinky before thanking him in a bit of disbelief. A small smile grew on on him as Blinky's face soon turned from one of concern to one of annoyance as he mumbled while turning away "You're welcome... these forests are dangerous in the day... well, more dusk then anything."

"Blinkous is right y'know." Deya cut it, making Blinky and Aaarrrgghh both jump a bit at the sudden disturbance.

"That's why we need to stick to the trail!" Deya called out again, cheerfully turning and walking again.

When Aaarrrgghh started to walk again he noticed Blinky was walking next to him rather then Deya. Aaarrrgghh knew better then to point this out however since Blinky didn't even seem to notice the change, and Aaarrrgghh found himself growing self conscious about the way he was walking.

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

"Okay, so I don't think it's necessarily the best idea for Aaarrrgghh to be in public right now. I don't think TrollMarket will be too... enthusiastic about him living here." Deya whispered right along the tree line.

It was night now and Aaarrrgghh had to pin himself against the side of a tree and the side of Deya to see where he would now be living.

Aaarrrgghh was incredibly pleased when he saw the beauty of TrollMarket at night rivalled that of the forest at dusk. There were numerous tents, all of them huge and fabric thick, so much so you couldn't see what was happening in them, only a soft light coming from them caused by the source in the tent. There were a bunch of lanterns on crates and tables, all of them lit, giving the entire camp a soft warm glow. Trolls were out attending to their business and Aaarrrgghh saw how friendly and happy they were. Trolls were talking to eachother and other trolls were happily doing exchanges, gnomes were scurrying around the grass and some trolls were having a conversation near a campfire. Overall, it was completely different from the gloomy Darklands. A good different. 

Aaarrrgghh wanted to push himself into the camp, to be like the trolls, to talk and laugh and smile. He knew better though, he knew that he had to stay in the dark, like he had his entire life. Stay in the dark of the tree line, that is. He had to lay low, for Deya's words spoke incredible truth. They were behind a patch of bushes and trees, and the trolls seemed to be paying no attention in their direction.

"Blinkous, you lead Aaarrrgghh to your tent, I'll provide as a distraction. I shall go and... make up an announcement. You will go around the bushes up to Gressar's tent and-"

"I know how to get to my tent, Deya." Blinky huffed.

Deya looked at Blinky for a bit before saying "Well, I'll go make the distraction then!" 

And like that, Deya rushed off in the other direction, leaving just Blinky and Aaarrrgghh alone once again.

Aaarrrgghh still had a hard time believing this was real. Surely this was a dream, there was no way a place this warm and happy could exist. Why weren't they fighting? Why weren't they trying to rank themselves up? Why weren't they trying their best to serve Deya at any chance? Wasn't Deya like Gunmar to them? 

Aaarrrgghh turned to Blinky prepared to ask these questions, but was interrupted when Blinky barked "All right, follow me."

Blinky didn't even care to look at Aaarrrgghh as he marched towards a certain direction, they were still in the trees but Aaarrrgghh could hear the distant sound of Deya's voice and trolls making a hustle to move to where she was. They continued to walk in the trees for a while before Blinky soon walked abruptly into the clearing, where there a yellow tent stood, two barrels with lanterns on them out front.

"Alright, we're here. Welcome to my humble abode." Blinky said.


	8. Explanations in the plaza.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaarrrgghh starts to settle in TrollMarket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically the chapter where I bullshit my way through plot holes

"It's nice." Aaarrrgghh timidly said.

"Yes well, I think we both need to prepare ourselves for what's inside of it." Blinky groaned.

Aaarrrgghh stood there confused as Blinky motioned him into the tent. Aaarrrgghh was quick to obey however as he carefully walked past other crates and lanterns to face the front of the tent.

"Big..." Aaarrrgghh stated while looking at the tent.

"Big" was an understatement. The tent was about twice the size as all the other tents which were big on their own, and Aaarrrgghh wondered why Blinky needed all this space when clearly he was the smallest troll in TrollMarket, not including the gnomes.

"Well, when your brother is a trusted author that has written well over a hundred books, it is only to be expected the place where he keeps those books shall be big." Blinky explained smugly, leaning one arm against a barrel.

Aaarrrgghh smiled at Blinky's sudden confidence until the words that Blinky said had really hit.

"Brother live with you?" Aaarrrgghh asked urgently.

"Well, yes, of course he does." Blinky responded a bit confused.

"I know you don't like him but I think you two might be able to get along if you gave it a chance!" Blinky exclaimed trying to fake a smile.

"Anyway, enough wasting time, I can only assume Deya is reaching a close to her announcement which means trolls will be filling every corner of here, so, in we go." Blinky said while pushing away the tent's two pieces of fabric near each other which acted like doors.

Aaarrrgghh was incredibly hesitant to follow, but pursued when he heard the distant clatter of trolls coming back to what they were doing beforehand.

When he stepped in he immediately met Blinky's hand on his chest. Aaarrrgghh was a bit confused at first before looking up and realizing that Blinky was asking for him to stop as Dictatious seemed to have fallen asleep reading a book, making him face away from the tent's opening.

Blinky turned to Aaarrrgghh and placed a finger on his mouth, signalling Aaarrrgghh to be quiet. Aaarrrgghh gently nodded as Blinky carefully crept to a part of the tent that led to what seemed to be a smaller tent that was sewn on, making it basically a room.

Blinky waved at the fabric door and slowly led Aaarrrgghh in, who was being careful not to make his horns tear anything. It was a room with a single lamp settled on a book that was next to a small patch of cloth and sheets, a common bed for trolls. There were various books strewn around the ground, obviously already read or in the process of. 

"Well, here is my room. I guess you shall be staying here until I can get Deya to perhaps give you a tent of your own or make an extension on this one." Blinky sighed. 

Aaarrrgghh felt his cheeks grow warm as he mumbled "I share room with you?"

"Oh goodness no! I shall be staying in the room we just passed. You know, the one where Dictatious is currently sleeping." Blinky hastily said as if he was just insulted. 

"O-oh..." Aaarrrgghh felt like he wanted to just go back to the Gumm-Gumms from embarrassment. "Wait- you sleep in library? No beds there."

"Eh, I usually don't use my bed anyways. I almost always just sleep at the tables. I usually get too engulfed in books that I don't realize how tired I am, it seems Dictatious is better at knowing when to stop reading then I am. I just find books to be incredibly interesting and it's very easy to get lost in them, especially if it's a good fantasy book where the-" 

Blinky tightened his lip as he realized he had just been rambling on. Aaarrrgghh barely seemed to notice that Blinky might've been talking to long as he found what Blinky had been saying extremely interesting, even if he didn't understand.

"Anyway, my point is that I'm used to it by now so it doesn't bother me." Blinky said while quickly turning away.

Aaarrrgghh found himself smiling at the troll in front of him, but as Blinky turned back around, Aaarrrgghh forced himself to turn back to his original neutral face.

"I guess I shall rid this room of the books, then?" Blinky asked.

Aaarrrgghh didn't know how to respond so he just shuffled his shoulders a bit, making Blinky sigh and go to collect them. Aaarrrghh watched the small troll as he carefully picked up books and added them to the pile that he was holding in his bottom pair of arms.

Blinky turned around and walked up to Aaarrrgghh and after a few seconds of silence Blinky asked Aaarrrgghh to move over. Aaarrrgghh was embarrassed again as he shuffled to get out of Blinky's way. 

He stood there with his thoughts as he heard Blinky placing the books to their respected spots on the shelves. Aaarrrgghh had never read before, and it seemed like Blinky absolutely loved it, so Aaarrrgghh made a mental note to perhaps one day try to read himself. It would be easier than before, considering how he was now living next to a room with well over hundreds of books.

Aaarrrgghh looked around the room and it was a bit lifeless now without Blinky's mess of books around the place. The dim glow of the lantern made Aaarrrgghh feel calm, and Aaarrrgghh realized that the entire time he was with that troll he had felt more calm then he ever had in the Gumm-Gumm camp.

"So, what shall we do now?" Blinky asked from behind Aaarrrgghh making him jump.

Aaarrrgghh furrowed his brows as he thought of what they could do. They couldn't really talk too much nor do anything too loud considering how Dictatious was still in the other room. They couldn't explore TrollMarket since they still didn't know that there was a Gumm-Gumm in their camp that was let into their living quarters only just six questions even though it was a Gumm-Gumm General that had killed thousands and have been in the Gumm-Gumm army for over a hundred years-

Aaarrrgghh realized that he had just been thinking about just how much of a terrible person he really was. It had only been a week, how could he have changed sides completely over the span of a week?

  
  


"Can't think of anything either, eh?" Blinky sighed as he tapped a finger against his chin, clearly just getting out of thought like Aaarrrgghh.

"Uh... n-no." Aaarrrgghh answered.

Blinky shrugged before saying "I guess I shall leave you here to accompany yourself with where you will be living. I am going to find Deya and ask her about you getting new living quarters."

Aaarrrgghh silently nodded and Blinky walked out, but soon poked his head in to say "Don't wake my brother!"

Aaarrrgghh nodded again and after a small bit of silence Aaarrrgghh could hear Blinky dash off. Aaarrrgghh merely stood there in the room a bit unaware of what to do. He stared around the room some more and decided to continue on what he was doing. Standing still.

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

"Tell me the real reason why you let Aaarrrgghh out." Blinky demanded while slamming his palm on the table.

Deya had decided to take a seat in the middle of TrollMarket, which was a sort of plaza for seating and tables and lamps. Many trolls went there when they wanted to sell something or just to meet with friends. It was a nice place, but they knew that they wouldn't have a place like this again once they went to the Heartstone. There wasn't enough clearance for a place like that. 

Since it was such a big clearing, trolls could only go there at night since in the day there was no tree shade to protect them. Trolls often settled on leaving around a large amount of lanterns at the tables as a light source, but tonight it seemed they decided to set up various campfires. 

Blinky had seen Deya at a campfire along with Vendel and Kanjigar. Overall, all of the most influential people in TrollMarket all being at one place made Blinky a bit nervous to approach them, but he needed to pull away Deya for a moment to ask her a question. He did intend on asking her about Aaarrrgghh's living arrangements, but that could wait as of now.

"Keep your voice down, Blinkous. There are trolls all around us." Deya whispered.

Blinky sighed and sat down across from her before repeating "Tell me why you let Aaarrrgghh into TrollMarket. I know how distrustful you are of everyone, and I know for a fact it wasn't because he answered the questions well enough."

Deya stared at Blinky with raised eyebrows before shrugging and saying calmly "I am telling the truth. Aaarrrgghh seems trustworthy."

"Bushigal!" Blinky barked causing Deya to shush him again.

"I want you to tell me the real reason you let Aaarrrgghh out. You must admit he is pretty suspicious-"

"Wasn't it you who wanted Aaarrrgghh out in the first place?" Deya cut in, clearly starting to get irritated.

"Well, yes. But that was a long time ago and during that time-"

"It was a week, Blinkous! A week!"

"And as I was saying before, in that week Aaarrrgghh did some things that lead me to not trust-"

"What things could he have done to make you change your opinion on him so suddenly and so strongly?" Deya asked with a raised voice.

Blinky stayed silent as he backed up. He had been leaning over on the table during the argument and knew that Deya was not one to be argued with. Deya always reminded Blinky of Usurna when she was mad.

"He..." Blinky began, finally deciding on telling her "he admitted to me of his plans of... getting information from us and telling Gunmar of our secrets."

There was a moment where Blinky stared at the ground, too afraid to look up at Deya. Her silence was more scary than her yelling. He knew that Deya must be thinking incredibly hard right now, much like him.

"And you didn't tell me this?" Deya finally asked, in an eerily calm voice.

"I was trying to when you were questioning him!" Blinky snapped.

"When did you find out?" Deya asked.

Blinky pointed up a finger to make his next point, but sunk it back down after he realized the answer to that. He knew Aaarrrgghh had been plotting this for the last four days at least. Why didn't he tell Deya? He had a lot of time to.

Deya huffed as she said "Do you remember Merlin's power to look into the future?"

Blinky straightened up, happy to switch the topic, as he mumbled "Yes... why?"

"Well... he was able to transfer that ability into a stone for the amulet. A stone that I use, as a matter of fact. It is referred to as the Wichatol Stone." Deya explained quietly.

"Do you mean..?" Blinky whispered.

"Yes. I can see into the future, but I can only use the stone's ability once every month. That's why I needed to wait a week to see Aaarrrgghh." Deya answered.

"Oh well I thought you could do it all the time. Once every month? So only twelve times a year?" Blinky asked.

"Yes. Did you hear me? I said once every month, and there are twelve months in a year. Can you do the math?" Deya snapped.

"No need to be rude about it." Blinky muttered. "So, when you looked into the future... does that mean Aaarrrgghh doesn't betray us?"

"Much to my surprise, no he does not. I could see your concern however in the plan he was originally going to do, but when I looked, he actually seemed to be quite useful to us." Deya explained.

Blinky saw that Deya had gone silent again and she seemed to be deciding something in her head.

"What is it?" Blinky asked quietly.

"Well... actually when I looked... you and Aaarrrgghh seemed to be-"

"Hey you guys what's going on?" Kanjigar shouted causing Blinky to yelp and clutch his chest in shock.

Deya smiled at the startled Blinky as she said "Oh just talking about things."

"What things?" Kanjigar questioned while setting down a cup of glug in front of Blinky.

"We were talking about Gunmar." Deya said slowly while staring at Blinky.

Blinky quickly nodded and tightened his folded hands that were now resting on the tabletop.

Kanjigar huffed as he shoved Blinky over on the bench as he sat down. Blinky internally swore as he realized he hadn't gotten the chance to ask Deya about Aaarrrgghh's living quarters situation.

"Deya, I think it's best if I take my leave now." Blinky muttered before standing up.

"Why? The real party just started!" Kanjigar laughed.

"Can you at least try being mature?" Vendel groaned through gritted teeth, who had apparently also showed up.

Blinky started to get a bit nervous over how everyone was showing up suddenly, and he started to get a bit desperate to leave.

"So anyway," Kanjigar said as Vendel took a seat next to Deya. "What do you guys think about that Aaarrrgghh fellow?"

Blinky instantly froze and decided to sit back down again. If Deya was to reveal what she had told Blinky, he knew he was in the clear to ask her about Aaarrrgghh staying with him.

"I know you love him or whatever, Blinkous, so no biased input from you." Kanjigar mumbled with a large grin on his face.

Blinky cleared his throat so loudly that a few trolls near them turned their heads, this also earned a laugh from Kanjigar.

"I, in fact, don't even like Aaarrrgghh. So the fact that you would even suggest that I love him is completely idiotic and I shall not even entertain that idea by discussing this further." Blinky said, probably more quick and professional sounding then anything he has ever said in his life.

Blinky stood up again after Kanjigar laughed some more and Blinky stomped all the way back to the tent. 

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

Blinky carefully drew back the two pieces of cloth that was the tent door and carefully stepped in the tent. If Dictatious was still sleeping, it would be best to keep him that way. He peeked behind a bookshelf only to find that Dictatious was gone from the table, which made Blinky grow a bit worried.

As if on cue, Blinky heard a loud slam in his bedroom followed by a series of muffled yells and thuds. Blinky felt his blood turn cold as he realized what must've happened while he was gone.

After a few seconds of stillness from fear, Blinky immediately scrambled to reach his room. He flung the sheets out of the way and saw what he had hoped he wasn't going to.

Aaarrrgghh, now with a gash on his cheek, was pinning down Dictatious against the ground, who also seemed to be bleeding. Blinky saw a blunt knife made of polished stone that was a common weapon for trolls in the corner of the room, and Blinky could only assume it was that which caused the injury on Aaarrrgghh's face. 

"Stop!" Screamed Blinky, as he saw Aaarrrgghh raise a fist.

As if by a force of some sort, Aaarrrgghh immediately stopped the oncoming aggression and turned to face Blinky. Blinky took a few steps back when he saw just how badly Dictatious had hurt Aaarrrgghh. There was a large chip in one of his horns and there was a cut mere inches away from his other eye.

"Blinkous! Go tell Deya that Aaarrrgghh has somehow found a way inside the camp!" Dictatious choked out.

Blinky stood frozen in panic, not only because he didn't know what to do, but because he also saw just how terrifying Aaarrrgghh looked. His eyes were pitch black with small purple pupils in them, and his markings were glowing a deep purple as well.

Making up his mind, Blinky started to slowly approach Aaarrrgghh, carefully putting one hand forward.

"Aaarrrgghh, I need you to let go of my brother." Blinkous gently said.

Aaarrrgghh huffed, but turned his expression from one of anger to more one of worry.

Blinky stopped when Aaarrrgghh grunted as Blinky started to walk nearer to him a bit more quickly. 

Blinky forced himself a small smile and said "I know you're scared, but it's alright now. Just take a deep breath."

Blinky was surprised at the words coming out of his mouth, but was even more surprised when Aaarrrgghh, after a few moments, obeyed them. Aaarrrgghh loosened his grip on Dictatious, causing Dictatious to quickly pry Aaarrrgghh's hand off of him and quickly run to a different corner of the room.

Blinky slowly reached forward and placed a hand on Aaarrrgghh's arm, and Aaarrrghh blinked a few times before his regular eyes came back to their original bright green.

After a few moments of Aaarrrgghh calming down more Dictatious practically screamed "WOULD ANYONE MIND TELLING ME WHAT IN DEYA'S NAME IS GOING ON HERE?"

"After we get Aaarrrgghh patched up!" Blinky responded, now turned over to his brother.

"Get him patched- he nearly tried to kill me!" Dictatious yelled.

"Well it seems you also tried, considering the numerous amounts of cuts on his face! And besides, you only seem to have a small one on your arm! Aaarrrgghh is way worse than you!" 

"Why are you siding with him of all people? Why is he even here?!"

"I said I'll tell you when we get Aaarrrghh better!"

Aaarrrgghh grunted again and Blinky realized that the pain had probably finally registered, since Aaarrrgghh was tensed up and his eyes were squinted, he seemed to be wincing but.. seemed to be trying to hide it? 

"I need you to get bandages, do you think you can handle that without harming anyone?" Blinky said.

Dictatious seemed to be taken aback my Blinky's sudden care for Aaarrrgghh, but soon slowly walked into the main room.

"How much does it hurt?" Blinky whispered while examining Aaarrrgghh's various cuts.

Aaarrrgghh merely looked down at the ground in response and Blinky placed another hand on Aaarrrgghh's arm in an effort to comfort him.

"H-here..." Dictatious suddenly said behind Blinky, making him flinch, along with Aaarrrgghh.

Dictatious slowly set down a wooden box that seemed to be filled with first aid supplies, all the while not taking a single eye off of Aaarrrgghh. Blinky heard a small growl coming from Aaarrrgghh as he reached down to grab the supplies.

"Now would you mind telling me what is going on?" Dictatious said with a shaking voice.

And with that, Blinky retold Dictatious all that happened in the past few days, all the while carefully helping covering up Aaarrrgghh's injuries.


	9. Kicking out.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanjigar finds out about Aaarrrgghh, he takes it better then Dictatious.

"Wait, so you're telling me that... Deya let Aaarrrgghh into TrollMarket after just six questions?" Dictatious asked, still not taking an eye off of Aaarrrgghh.

Blinky silently nodded as he focused on making sure to not hurt Aaarrrgghh while he finished wrapping gauze around Aaarrrgghh's gash.

"My question is why are you so caring for this... this ex-Gumm-Gumm?! Surely you must not trust him that much?" Dictatious said.

Aaarrrgghh grumbled a bit at Dictatious' words and Blinky sighed. 

He finished wrapping Aaarrrgghh up and said in an annoyed voice, avoiding the question, "Now can anyone tell me exactly what happened here?"

Blinky looked around, Aaarrrgghh continued to stare at the ground while Dictatious scoffed and mumbled something under his breath.

"Well," Dictatious finally said. "I woke up and saw this... Gumm-Gumm.. reading one of my books. Since, for some reason, I was not aware of the fact that he was supposed to be living here now, I reasonably attacked him." 

Blinky had to take a few moments before saying "So you saw... a troll that was known for being a bloodthirsty murderer… and your first reaction was to provoke him to fight?"

"Well it was my flight or fight reaction! At least that's what humans call it. And I chose to fight. Are you telling me you wouldn't try to defend yourself if you saw an enemy in your living quarters?" Dictatious barked.

"Well I don't think you are telling the truth entirely here considering how I found you two in here and not in the library and there is a knife in the corner of the room! And don't use that self defense excuse because you are clearly more harmed than Aaarrrgghh here, and I doubt he attacked you first!” Blinky hastily argued.

Dictatious scoffed before mumbling something angrily that Blinky couldn't hear. Blinky still was angry at Dictatious, but could understand how afraid he must've been when he awoke to Aaarrrgghh in his current home.

"I'm going to the tavern and get some glug, I don't need any of this." Dictatious finally mumbled before storming off.

Blinky was at first scared that Dictatious was going to tell TrollMarket about Aaarrrgghh, but soon pushed those worries away. He knew that Dictatious was lying, but why hadn't Aaarrrgghh intervened?

After a few moments of quiet thinking, Aaarrrgghh pulled himself away from Blinky's touch, clearly uncomfortable. Blinky instead moved his hands to fidget with his fingers, not knowing what to do.

"I know he was lying." Blinky bluntly said, surprised that he was talking. "Do you... do you think you can tell me what actually happened?"

Aaarrrgghh turned to Blinky, before opening his mouth to speak, before slowly closing it again.

Blinky sighed and said, "It's okay to tell me, Aaarrrgghh."

Aaarrrgghh made a face of unnerve before curling in on himself slightly. Blinky blinked tiredly. He wanted to sleep, but knew he couldn't until he got this all sorted out.

"I... he... he attacked me with knife and... got scared so I attacked back... and... tried to escape at first then remembered I can't go out..." Aaarrrgghh mumbled quietly.

"That's all I need to hear." Blinky softly said after he saw that Aaarrrgghh clearly wanted to not talk about this. "He must've hurt you quite badly. I'm glad that you didn't attack him first though."

If Aaarrrgghh didn't attack as soon as he was provoked, that meant he was showing progress. Although it is quite normal and somewhat expected to attack back if the offender is wielding a knife. 

"Mm... didn't hurt me that bad" Aaarrrgghh said now a bit more clearly.

"He didn't- he stabbed your face multiple times! How is that not bad!" Blinky gasped in disbelief.

"Get worse then this in Gumm-Gumm camp all the time." Aaarrrgghh simply said, seeming to not be bothered by those words, much unlike Blinky.

Aaarrrgghh didn't see this as a big deal. He didn't see being attacked at home as a big deal, because it must've happened nearly every day when he was at the Gumm-Gumm camp, and to much more extremes. 

Aaarrrgghh must've noticed how worried and shocked Blinky looked as he quickly said "I-it okay though!"

Blinky worried his brows and sighed before saying "... I'm sorry that you had to go through that."

There was a moment of silence where Blinky stared at the ground. This new knowledge was disturbing, and Blinky soon, after a life of not, understood the phrase "ignorance is bliss"

"Well, I thank you for telling me what actually happened. " Blinky said while patting Aaarrrgghh's arm, trying his best to force a smile.

Aaarrrgghh stared at Blinky, somehow this troll comforting him actually worked, unlike with all the failed attempts of comfort at the Gumm-Gumm camp. Even with just the troll touching him, Aaarrrgghh felt more at ease than ever before. 

Blinky soon walked over to the knife, and Aaarrrgghh watched as he picked it up, scoffed, and placed it in the first aid box, which he then carried out to the library.

Aaarrrgghh soon lazily blinked as he realized how late it must've been. With now daylight not being as deadly to these trolls as the large amount of shade acted as a shield, the fact that trolls are a nocturnal species seemed to have slipped his mind. Aaarrrghh was now growing more tired at night and more awake during the day.

Soon Aaarrrgghh's head started to pound, he wasn't really focused on his injuries until now, because before he was distracted by Blinky. He knew this headache was going to last a long time, so he decided to try and sleep.

Aaarrrgghh wondered if he was allowed to sleep, or if he was expected to sleep somewhere else. This was his room now, right? And Blinky did say this is where he would be sleeping. But was there a certain time that he was supposed to sleep? Was it too early? Aaarrrgghh's head started to hurt again from all the thinking that he was doing, so he decided to sleep and keep doing what he thought was right until he was yelled at. Aaarrrgghh hesitantly walked over to where the bed was and curled up on the cloth. He could feel himself drifting off and soon fell asleep.

"Aaarrrgghh, I-" Blinky had walked into the room, only to see a peaceful sight of Aaarrrgghh sleeping on his bed.

Blinky stood there for a while, not really sure on what to do, but soon he decided that it's best if he stayed up until Dictatious returned. Blinky quietly walked over to a table and sat down at it, trying his best to stay awake despite how drowsy he was. Blinky knew that he would never let anything like this happen again. He wouldn't let anything like this happen to Aaarrrgghh again. 

Blinky still had more questions to ask, like why Aaarrrgghh’s eyes and carvings had gone back to their original Gumm-Gumm dark purple, and why Aaarrrgghh barely fought back even though Dictatious’s attacks could have been potentially life threatening, but Blinky knew better then to pressure Aaarrrgghh into talking about something he didn't want to. He learned that when Aaarrrgghh was still being held prisoner, which now felt like a year ago rather than only a few hours. Aaarrrgghh seemed like an entirely different person, too.

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

Aaarrrgghh jolted awake while breathing heavily. He must've had another nightmare. It was common for Aaarrrgghh to have nightmares but... it was uncommon for Aaarrrgghh not to remember what the nightmare was about. Aaarrrgghh tried to remember what it was about since him being scared was bad enough, but not knowing why was just annoying. All he could remember were the colours of black... blue... a glowing circle and... a face. Before Aaarrrgghh could distinguish it however, his head started to pound.

Aaarrrgghh realized that it must've been dawn now as the walls of the tent had an orangey glow to them that seemed to be absorbing sunlight from outside. With it being day, Aaarrrgghh knew he couldn't go to sleep again, so, carefully, he walked out into the library.

To his relief he couldn't see Dictatious anywhere, but soon he did notice a troll who at first he thought was Dictatious, but after a few seconds he recognized as Blinky reading a book.

Aaarrrgghh made a noise of greeting as he found it safe to enter the room, Blinky looked up and Aaarrrgghh was greeted to a rather exhausted Blinky. His eyes had bags and his hair also seemed to be a bit messy. Aaarrrgghh was going to ask him if he had slept, but knew that asking questions usually resulted in unwanted situations and punishments, so he learned early on to keep quiet and attend to his own business.

"Ah! Aaarrrgghh! You're awake!" Blinky said in a cheery tone, which didn't match his rather tired look.

"Is... brother here?" Aaarrrgghh hesitantly mumbled.

Blinky immediately started to tap a finger against the table and his face looked more worried now as he said "No... no he hasn't. I must've stayed up all night waiting for him to return. I hope he's okay, he did say he was going out for drinks."

Blinky considered leaving Aaarrrgghh in the library to look for his brother, but after what happened last time Aaarrrgghh was left alone, Blinky could only imagine what would happen if it was replaced with a drunk or hungover Dictatious.

Aaarrrgghh's brows furrowed with hate. He really didn't like Dictatious. As if the brief time Dictatious was his caretaker wasn't hellish enough, now when he is here he gets slashed and cut by that troll, and he obviously isn't good company for Blinky either.

Blinky was still worrying about Dictatious, and as if by some miracle, Deya had peeked her head through the sheets feather cheerfully and said "Hey guys, just checking up on you!"

Deya's cheeriness soon disappeared completely in seconds as she saw the large bandages that were wrapped around Aaarrrgghh's face.

Immediately she rushed over and Aaarrrgghh tensed from the sudden person in front of him.

"Blinkous, what happened to him?" She asked as she placed one hand against her chest in shock.

"Dictatious attacked him." Blinky casually said, still thinking about what he should do.

"WHAT?!" Deya yelled.

"Dictatious attack me." Aaarrrgghh said, copying Blinky's tone.

Deya looked at Aaarrrgghh and Blinky in disbelief, until it finally clicked for Blinky what Deya actually asked.

"H-he's fine though! He just has a few cuts on his face! And besides, I don't think the cuts are causing him serious pain! And I got him all bandaged up!" Blinky quickly said while rising from his chair.

Deya tightly shut her eyes and furrowed her brows as she said, in a sharp voice, "Blinkous Galadrigal. You're one job was to protect Aaarrrgghh. If you can not even do that then maybe I need to find someone more capable." 

"No!" Blinky and Aaarrrgghh called out at the same time.

"Dictatious attack me, not Blinkous. This not Blinkous fault." Aaarrrgghh stated.

"See, this is why I think it's good if Aaarrrgghh gets his own separate tent!" Blinky exclaimed.

"Or, Dictatious can move out of this tent until Aaarrrgghh is actually ready for that." Deya suggested.

Aaarrrgghh was relieved that Dictatious could possibly be forced to go away from him, but soon that relief vanished when Blinky opened his mouth, seeming to be prepared to protest, but stayed silent for a bit and closed it again, looking annoyed and defeated at the same time.

"So! I guess it's settled! Now, where is Dictatious? I guess he shall stay with me while Aaarrrgghh reforms." Deya said.

"Oh- umm, actually about that! He left shortly after I bandaged Aaarrrgghh up, I think he got overwhelmed by the fact that Aaarrrgghh will be living... with..." Blinkous said, soon turning into a mumble after he saw the furious expression in Deya's face.

"And YOU LET HIM?" Deya boomed causing Aaarrrgghh to jump a bit.

"And you expected me to stop him? I was too busy worrying about Aaarrrgghh!" Blinky started, "And yes I did think about the possibility of him telling people about Aaarrrgghh!" Blinky finished after seeing Deya point a finger up as she was about to make a point.

"See, this is why I don't trust Dictatious! He practically injured Aaarrrgghh and left, leaving you to do the dirty work!"

Aaarrrgghh watched as Deya and Blinky argued back and forth, he found himself actually siding with Deya more than Blinky. They continued like this for what Aaarrrgghh guessed was five minutes, but stopped after Deya slammed her fist down on a nearby table.

"That's it! I am going to find Dictatious and he will be leaving you and Aaarrrgghh immediately!" Deya barked.

Blinky crossed his arms and huffed, he looked like a pouting whelp. Deya scoffed as she marched out the tent.

Aaarrrgghh didn't really know what to say to Blinky. It was a bit awkward to be around Blinky after he was recently in an argument. Aaarrrgghh wondered briefly if Blinky blamed him for having to have Dictatious move out, but that was put to rest after Blinky sighed and rested his top pair of hands on the edge of the table.

"I guess it would be better if Dictatious wasn't here. I know you aren't fond of him and I feel like having someone who has hurt you and you hate being around you won't help your progress." Blinky sighed.

"I'm... sorry." Aaarrrgghh muttered.

"W-what for?" Blinky asked, seeming to be caught off guard by Aaarrrgghh's question after him being silent for so long.

"My fault Dictatious has to go." Aaarrrgghh mumbled.

He knew fully well that it was Dictatious who had attacked him in the first place, but he knew that he needed to comfort Blinky, especially now with the news that his brother can't live with him anymore.

"If there is anyone to blame it's me..." Blinky chuckled tiredly, "I was the one who thought it was a good idea to leave you two alone." Blinky's voice grew more irritated with the last part.

Aaarrrgghh was about to protest Blinky on his incorrect blaming, but remembered that it's best to keep his mouth shut when it came to things like these. He already made that mistake in the past while with the Gumm-Gumms, and he didn't want to repeat the mistake again.

All of a sudden Blinky yelped, which caused Aaarrrgghh to immediately lose track on thought and become aware of his surroundings, but before he could do that Blinky was already pushing him into his room.

Aaarrrgghh looked back to Blinky, wondering what in Deya's name was happening, but only realized what it was when there was a small yell at the opening of the tent.

"IS THAT AAARRRGGHH?!" Kanjigar yelled, only to whip his hands to his mouth after realizing TrollMarket was still outside the tent.

"Ooohhh everything is just going wrong today!" Blinky said through gritted teeth, clutching his hair with his two top arms.

"Uh... B-Blinky... I assume Deya k-knows about this?" Kanjigar nervously chuckled, taking a step backwards.

"Of course she does. Sit down Kanjigar, this will be a kind of long story." Blinky groaned.

Aaarrrgghh saw Blinky try to breathe to calm himself. Aaarrrgghh came to the conclusion that Blinky really needed some sleep soon, and lots of it. Kanjigar obeyed as he slowly shuffled to a chair and sat in it.

"Uh... hi?" Kanjigar said to Aaarrrgghh, giving a small wave.

Aaarrrgghh blankly stared at Kanjigar and waved back, his mind still set on Blinky.

"Okay, so, Deya promised me she would let Aaarrrgghh out into TrollMarket if he showed process in leaving the Gumm-Gumms, the interrogation happened, he was successful, he's living with me now until he can get a place of his own." Blinky said quickly.

Kanjigar took a few seconds to process what Blinky had explained before he cleared his throat again and said "Uh... how about you introduce me to him then?"

Blinky huffed as he said, in a sarcastic tone, "Alright. Kanjigar this is Aaarrrgghh, Aaarrrgghh this is Kanjigar. There we are, all nice and acquainted!" 

Kanjigar and Aaarrrgghh both stared at Blinky for a few seconds. Blinky never acted like this in the two weeks Aaarrrgghh knew him, and, basing off of Kanjigar's expression, he was never like this with anyone.

"Blinky," Kanjigar ignored the scoff from Blinky as he said what Aaarrrgghh could only assume was a nickname, "Have you gotten enough sleep lately?"

Aaarrrgghh was confused when Kanjigar seemed to get an answer from Blinky's silence. Blinky only stared down at his feet and fidgeted with his hands for a small bit, leading Kanjigar to sigh and shake his head disapprovingly. 

"Blinky, you're sleeping right now. I'm gonna take care of Aaarrrgghh." Kanjigar said in a gentle tone.

Blinky seemed to immediately snap as he said "Oh no you don't! The last time I left him alone with someone, this-" Blinky motioned to Aaarrrgghh's injuries, "Happened! And you literally just met him! How can I trust you?”

Kanjigar looked worryingly at Blinky and sighed "Blinky, you're becoming paranoid. This, again, is because you don't sleep enough."

Blinky shifted his eyes down and crossed his arms again, clearly annoyed at Kanjigar, but it was clear that his words were starting to get through to him. Aaarrrgghh looked at Kanjigar, he greatly preferred this troll over Dictatious. Unfortunately, it seemed that Blinky valued Dictatious over Kanjigar.

Kanjigar looked back at Aaarrrgghh, and Aaarrrgghh quickly bent his head down and instead stared at the ground.

"Well I actually can't sleep because Deya is going to inform Dictatious about how he can't live here anymore." Blinky mumbled.

"And why do you need to be awake for that?" Kanjigar asked.

"Well-... because-"

"I'll handle it, okay?" Kanjigar offered. 

Blinky looked up at Kanjigar, and Kanjigar gave him a warm smile. Blinky seemed to be convinced to sleep, as he relaxed his eyes a bit and sat back down at the table, but soon grabbed a book and loudly banged it against the table's surface.

"I will sleep when all of this is over. For now I shall read." Blinky declared, squinting at Kanjigar straight in the eye.

Kanjigar chuckled a bit as he said "Alright then."

<•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•><•>

Blinky shot back in his chair and clutched the edges, he looked back down at the open book that he was reading and slowly realized he must've fallen asleep while reading it.

"Blinkous! You're finally awake! Come and back me up here!" Dictatious barked leading Blinky to look around the room frantically only to realize that Kanjigar, Deya, and Dictatious were all arguing about something.

"He just woke up! Don't you bring him into this! You already put enough on Blinky's shoulders the night you attacked Aaarrrgghh!" Deya yelled.

Blinky realized Aaarrrgghh wasn't with them and for a moment he panicked, but soon calmed down after he saw that Aaarrrgghh was beside him at the table, away from all the yelling.

Dictatious shouted something back at Deya, which caused Kanjigar to shout something too. It was a sort of domino effect and Blinky knew better then to involve himself.

"Could you tell me what happened?" Blinky mumbled to Aaarrrgghh while rubbing two of his eyes.

Aaarrrgghh seemed to be caught off guard with Blinky suddenly acknowledging him, but he answered with "Dictatious mad has to go... back to see if you knew about it. Deya mad at him, Kanjigar panicked, everyone start yelling, surprise you didn't wake up." 

Blinky nodded a little, he must've been out cold to not hear the three yelling back and forth, they were yelling quite loud. Blinky could only imagine how worse it would be if Vendel was here. Blinky noticed Aaarrrgghh wince a bit after a particularly loud insult that was provided by Dictatious. 

Aaarrrgghh must've seen Blinky's worrying look as he mumbled, "Yelling hurt head."

Blinky reaches out a hand and after some hesitation from Aaarrrgghh, Blinky gave him a gentle pat on his arm.

"By order of your Trollhunter, I command you to not set foot in here again until I give you permission!" Deya boomed, causing everything to suddenly go silent.

Aaarrrgghh looked around confused and saw Blinky gaping at the situation, Dictatious stayed silent for a moment before he stomped off with a look of unimaginable anger.

"Wow... you really pulled out the old ‘by order of your Trollhunter’ card, didn't you? If I become the next Trollhunter I'm never doing that." Kanjigar said with a slight chuckle of disbelief.

"He was getting out of line..." Deya grumbled, now turning back to Aaarrrgghh and Blinky.

"Oh! Blinky! I forgot that you guys were here!" Kanjigar laughed while getting up from his seat, "You must be pretty confused cause you woke up to all of us yelling."

Kanjigar approached Blinky and Aaarrrgghh and for a second Blinky was concerned if it would be too overwhelming for Aaarrrgghh to have all these things happening at once and then Kanjigar come near him, but he was surprised when Kanjigar leaned a hand against one of Aaarrrgghh's huge arms nonchalantly.

"Before Deya came, me and Aaarrrgghh talked for a while and we're friends now." Kanjigar grinned.

Blinky looked in absolute disbelief, but Aaarrrgghh nodded and gave a tiny smile. This was unbelievable, Kanjigar had only known Aaarrrgghh for a few hours and they were best friends, but Aaarrrgghh had known Blinky for weeks but Blinky could tell he was still uncomfortable around him. Well, Kanjigar was always more charming and likeable then Blinky, so Blinky accepted the fact pretty quickly that Aaarrrgghh felt more comfortable around Kanjigar then him.

"I was surprised too." Deya said, seeing Blinky's face.

"Dictatious is so mad. I just hope he doesn't tell Vendel about this." Kanjigar said, with an expression of humor more than concern.

Blinky smiled a bit but then got lost in thought again over Dictatious. Kanjigar noted on how deep in thought Blinky looked, and Blinky responded with telling everyone that he needs some time to think things over.

"Why? We already got things figured out! Don't overthink things and don't worry too much about the future!" Kanjigar said.

Deya behind him held back a snicker, Kanjigar didn't seem to notice, which was odd because he was surprisingly observant. 

"Listen, now that Dictatious is gone, we can just take it easy!" Kanjigar said.

"So what are we supposed to do then?" Blinky asked, knowing fully well there wasn't much any of them could do if they couldn't go around TrollMarket.

Kanjigar was at a loss for words and then he said, quite proud of himself that he was able to come up with something, "You can teach Aaarrrgghh proper TrollMarket mannerisms and etiquette!"

"Pft! By mannerisms you mean scarfing down food without any cutlery and getting hammered off of glug..." Deya scowled under her breath.

"Well, don't teach him to eat like that, Blinky. Teach him how to, y'know, actually eat like a proper troll. Maybe then Vendel might like him a bit when he inevitably finds out about this.” Kanjigar laughed.

Blinky rolled all six of his eyes and raised an eyebrow at Aaarrrgghh, as if asking for his opinion on this, to which Aaarrrgghh nodded slowly, he wanted to learn about TrollMarket, seeing as now he will be staying here.

"Fine, I will teach him." Blinky sighed.

"Great! And we," Kanjigar pulled Deya closer to him so that their shoulders were touching, "Will help you!"


End file.
